Setting Shadows
by 7th Librarian
Summary: Set in the Shadowchasers universe. Lyrius Stormcloud, the world's newest king. And Judy LaBaron, his queen and leader of the Shadowchasers. Together, their destiny will change the world forever. But before this, before the future comes to be, the past must be laid to rest. To see the dawn, the night must end. Take the plunge with them behind the veil, into a world without light.
1. Old Friends, New Foes

Setting Shadows  
By 7th Librarian and Mei1105

A/N: _To celebrate Christmas and the gift of each other's love, my darling fiancée (Mei1105) and I have taken the ultimate step as a couple. To write a story as co-authors! Please, enjoy, read and review!  
_ _  
OOO_

 _"I never took you for a writer, Em." With overdramatic grace, Judy LaBaron-Stormcloud draped herself lengthwise over the lounge chair so that her sleek mane of silver hair landed in her husband's lap. Her lips quirked in a smirk and she regarded her best friend of umpteen years with impatient amusement. "So what's with the book?"_

 _"I would hardly call this writing." Seated in a rather comfortable recliner, a woman with a stylish pixie cut gestured to the tablet laying on her lap. Floating in the air above it was a blue image and as they spoke, the words appeared in the space it generated before being 'sucked' down into the tablet's surface. "It's just recording what we're talking about."  
_ _  
"Editing and adding notes and stuff counts as writing in my book." Judy giggled and grinned. "And considering this story is about me, it most certainly is my book."_

 _"Our book, sevetti." Lyrius Storcloud corrected gently as he ran his finger's through Judy's hair, carefully removing the circlet that rested there. Silver and gold woven together and etched with platinum, it mirrored his own. "And kindly remove your crown before you lay in my lap. It was digging into my thigh."_

 _"Sorry, darling." Judy didn't sound it as regarded Emily again. "So, why the interest? Won't this story be in the Library Arcanium automatically?"_

 _"Not this one. This is one I have to collect personally given I'm the Librarian. And, well, you've never quite told me everything. Going on an adventure and saving the world is hardly an explanation." Emily said pointed and gave her friend a fierce look. "Details, woman, I need details."_

 _"Well, Lyrius does love this thing where I take my mouth and-"_

 _"Wrong kind of details!" Emily scowled as Judy laughed. "Be good, Scales and tell me how you changed the world!"  
_ _'  
"Alright, alright, Bookworm. I'll behave. For the most part." Judy threaded her fingers into Lyrius' free hand. "I suppose it all started back when we first got together. I'd known him for years by that point, but we went months between meetings and finally, at one, I'd decided to stop hinting and start asking about his feelings. Of course, the universe decided to laugh at us and sent that monster..."_

OOO

Chapter 1: Old Friends, New Partners

"One double shot white chocolate macchiato and one Naked Smoothie. Thank you for shopping at Starbucks, sir! Enjoy your day!" The cashier, armed with a beaming, cute smile, a visor and ringlets of dark hair, passed the drinks over the counter. "Please don't hesitate to ask if you need anything!"

"Thank you." Her customer took the drinks with a polite nod before striding over to a nearby table and passing the steaming mug of flavored coffee to his companion. "Your caffiene."

"Ah, thank you!" Judy LaBaron took the cup gratefully and took a sip, savoring it as the man seated himself across from her. "Mmmm, so good…"

"I believe I can hear your heart speeding up from over here." The man commented as he unscrewed the lid to his drink.

Judy gave him a skeptical look. "Even you aren't talented enough to hear someone else's heartbeat from across the table, Lyrius. If your hearing was that sensitive, you'd be driven mad by the sound of your own."

"Assuming I am not already mad."

"Are you saying that because of all the insane shit you put up with?" Judy took a more forceful drink of her coffee, sighing contently.

"Compared to your more recent adventures, I believe my life is quite dull." Lyrius said pointedly.

"I'd take dull over dealing with another of Mister Monster's creations again," Judy muttered. Seeing her coffee-buddy's eyebrows lift, she sighed. "Explaining to Her Majesty how we had to blanket London in a magical fog and bury the body of a zombie dragon in the Thames was not a conversation I enjoyed…"

"Her Majesty, understandably, does not cope well with such things outside her purview." Lyrius took a drink. "I had several furious messages in my voicemail about that dragon and why I was not destroying it utterly."

"...the Queen has your mobile number?" Judy gave him a minor scowl. "Even I don't have that!"

"I needed access to the Tower of London and the Crown Jewels several years ago. After destroying the Dread Pirate-Lich Roberts, it seemed prudent to maintain a close relationship to the Royal Family."

"You destroyed Roberts?" Judy groaned and buried her face in her arms. "Lyrius, you need to tell me these things! We've had that case open for the last five years because we lost track of his ship in the Channel! I spent two weeks on Guernsey hunting for the damn thing and by the end of it, I was ready to murder a tourist!"

"Well, cruise ships are tempting targets for bloodthirsty, treasure-hunting pirates." Lyrius said with a straight face. "If you require the _Crimson Dawn_ , I have it currently docked in Arcadia."

"You stole his ship from him." Judy sighed into her arms. "...did you steal his treasure, too?"

"I donated it to the Red Cross." Lyrius informed her.

"Good on you." Judy smiled over her drink. "Any other good deeds that I should be aware of?"

"I bought you your drink."

Judy looked thoughtful and grinned playfully at him. "You going to buy me anything else today?"

"According to your friends, you need a social life." Lyrius lifted an eyebrow. "Apparently, I myself do count as one for you."

"Only because as talented or handsome as you are, you still are just one man. Who is rather happy today. Well, at least for you. Must be a good drink." Judy smirked. "Or because you happen to be on a date with the most beautiful Shadowchaser this side of the equator."

Lyrius' eyebrow lifted enough to rise above the line of his sunglasses. "We are having drinks in a Starbucks."

"Hey, its my social life and if I want this to be a date, then it'll damn well be a date." Judy gestured at him with her drink, grinning. "And judging by the looks that clerk gave you and the glares I'm getting, she certainly thinks it's a date. Perception is important, doncha know?"

"Considering what you have told me of your previous boyfriend, anyone would be a step up." Lyrius had a ghost of a smile. "Your Facebook squabble with him after your break-up leads me to believe you were rather unsatisfied."

Judy leaned forwards a bit, glad for her hair to spill over her shoulders and the platinum blonde locks hid her blush. "I was unsatisfied…" She trailed off, uncertain how to continue.

"Emotionally or physically?" Lyrius asked carefully.

"Both."

"How so? You seemed quite smitten with him at the start of your relationship, if your letters were any indication." He took a drink of his smoothie.

Rubbing her head between her hands, the pouting half-dragon glanced off to one side, not quite willing to meet this inquisitive gaze. "Trust is hard to maintain when you live a secret life." She admitted quietly. "Friends are hard enough - at least I have Em, Becky and Sheeta to make sure the secrecy doesn't kill me. But boyfriends…" She trailed off a little helplessly.

Lyrius nodded sympathetically. "Understandable. So physically - why, in your own words, did he 'suck worse than a black hole?' "

"Because he _did_ suck like a black hole!" she burst out, with a noise that was half exasperated half laughter. "Everything was all about him! There was...well, nothing in it for me...you know what I mean?" she failed in her efforts to find an explanation that was not R rated.

"You enjoy wrestling foreplay, much petting and making out and like being subdued. As long as you are getting some, position matters little and you like grabbing onto things and having your hair pulled. Lyrius said smoothly, like he was discussing the weather.

The blush became hotter and more vivid. "Were you taking notes on my twenty first birthday?" She asked accusingly.

"It took a month for that bite mark in my shoulder to heal all the way. That was an effective reminder." Lyrius had that ghost of a smile again. "You were rather forward. It was...appreciable. I have been told I come across as rather intimidating."

Judy chortled into her coffee. "You know flowers, earrings and eyeliner don't make you look intimidating," she jabbed a finger at the white rose tucked behind his ear. "Makes you look like a hipster...or a poet. All you need are the big brainy specs."

"I am wearing sunglasses. My eyes...tend to bother others." Lyrius tapped the eyewear with a finger. "They do look...rather bloodthirsty, even when I am calm."

His eyebrows arched as Judy leaned across the table and plucked the glasses from his face, pushing them onto her own nose. Lyrius didn't blink and even through the dark tint of the glasses, Judy could see why his eyes bothered nearly everyone. They were white-on-white-on-white, pupil barely visible in this light. Despite their vacancy of color, they seemed to smolder with power. Judy felt a delightful shiver run through her body as they gazed at her.

"Bloodlust excites you." Lyrius noted suddenly and Judy swore his gaze had flicked to her chest, but with those eyes, it was impossible to tell.

"I have no idea what you're talking about," the half-dragon Shadowchaser cleared her throat and took a hasty sip of her coffee.

"Your excitement is...noticeable in that shirt." Lyrius cocked his head a tiny bit. Scowling, Judy folded her arms over her chest.

"Well anyway," she continued, rather pointedly. "That was why he was so unsatisfying. I'd love to say that I dumped him, but he ended up with that honour."

"It was his loss." Lyrius said softly. "Though, I cannot say I am surprised."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"You are an aggressive woman by nature. You get excited when we spar and you are a half-dragon. The thrill of battling formidable opponents and triumphing with your strength alone is in your blood, Miss LaBaron." Lyrius tucked a lock of his midnight black hair behind his ear. "Full dragon courting is not much different from a life or death battle. It sounds as if your recent relationships have simply been too placid."

"Hmm…" Judy gave a huff, and placed her mug back on the table with a loud clink of china. "Well, I didn't drag you here to discuss my ex's. Besides, if any of my dragon instincts are going to kick, I'd rather it be the hoarding one."

"I do not think even Jalal's hordes would be enough to split amongst two dragons."

Judy snorted. "I have a horde of my own already thank you - I came into my trust a year ago." A wistful smile crossed her face. "You would not believe the amount of paintings I have right now, and nowhere to put them."

She saw Lyrius's eyes light up at the mention of artwork, and she fought the urge to growl protectively. Those paintings had belonged to her father and she would not be parting with them!

"Anyway, as much as I like Dad's collection of beautiful women, I prefer real people," she grinned. "Maybe that's what I'll collect!"

Lyrius' eyebrows raised.

"Oh don't give me that look!" a huff sent her hair flying. "Not just pretty on the outside, but pretty on the inside too. Pretty skills. Pretty personalities…" she trailed off happily. "My own little harem! And when I have a problem, I just snap my fingers and poof! Solved."

That ghost of a smile was back. "You wish to be a queen."

"I don't know a single girl of my generation who didn't want to be a Disney Princess at some point," she admitted, before waving the thought away. "But I have an impossible job to consume my life, body and soul. I don't need two. Not to mention, you're the only king left, really."

"A king of nothing, perhaps."

"No one ever really gives up that kind of title."

"Few kings ever live to retire. Only to end on the point of a sword or a poisoned cup or a knife in the back." Lyrius' eyes softened and he looked down at the table. "What I had is long since changed. My homeland may have once called me king, but now I am a shadow of a legend."

He took a long pull from his drink. "As it should be."

The bottle returned to the table, and a hand slid into his, fingers squeezing firmly.

"There's no shadow to your legend." Judy said pointedly. "Working as the Sword of St. Cuthbert for twenty years, storming the Abyss to battle an evil god to save your wife's soul…none of that is ancient history. That was all _you_. And if you ask me, those were the actions of a king."

Sliding her hand free again, she leaned back in her seat, her fingers wrapping around her mug. A teasing smile materialised on her face. "To be honest, I'm surprised some of the groups of Shadowkind haven't asked you to lead them. Or had their gods make you offers."

"There have been...some, but I know that many deities would barter with me as a means of control. To defeat a divine being, so few mortals have done such a thing and that fact I bear no adherence or allegiance to any of them is an unsettling thought for many. Individuals such as myself have, in ages past, risen to become demigods, great evils or were destroyed in the process of becoming stronger."

"Mmmm. What about Eiliastraee?" Judy pointed to the single piece of non-black clothing that Lyrius wore, a small dangling earring of a crescent moon impaled by a sword. "You don't seem the type to just wear a god's symbol without a reason."

"The Moon Dancer is a patron to artists of all kinds and to wielders of the sword. When I was returned to life, I sought out her Blade Dancer priestess to spar against and hone my skills with the blade again. And as I am a freelance artist in my spare time, she favors me from time to time." Lyrius took a pull from a drink. "But she passes inspiration for my art and little else. I respect her, but do not believe in her as a patron goddess."

"Some would argue that respecting a god is enough to say you believe in them as a higher power." Judy traced the rim of her cup with a finger. "I agree with you, though. No one's particular dogma ever rang really true with me. Not to mention picking one particular deity would make my job as Shadowchaser leader that much more difficult."

"You are an excellent leader, Miss LaBaron. You posses cunning, wit, reason, courage and faith and the rest you do not have, you will learn through experience." Lyrius told her. "You truly are _sevetti._ "

She flushed at the praise. "You know, I think you're the only person who calls me 'Steelheart' and means it...and you're the only person I like hearing it from." An expectant look crossed her face.

"If you wish me to say it more often, Miss LaBaron, I would have to have you grace my life with more of your beautiful presence." Lyrius had that ghost of a smile again. "I only hope my presence wouldn't bore you."

Judy's eyes widened by a fraction, before she controlled herself."You show up to half our meetings reeking of blood and given all those reports of wiped out gangs, flunkies and monsters that cross Jalal's desk, your life is anything but boring."

"I, surprising as it may seem, do have efforts outside of my crime-related activities." Lyrius took a drink of his smoothie. "I imagine you would not be so fussed if you were watching me paint or draw."

"I would, depending on the subject matter." Judy said carefully. "Portraits were the original selfie, you know."

"I have yet to draw you." Lyrius noted.

"I would like that, I think. You are a very talented artist, Lyrius." Judy leaned forwards a bit eagerly. "Do you do paintings where the subjects are...less than clothed?

"For the right subject and pay." Lyrius acknowledged. His face betrayed no expression, but his eyes burned a bit harder in their intensity and Judy felt a pleasant warmth coil in her belly.

"I like to think I'm very pretty and I have three dragon hordes worth of money." Judy smiled heavily, letting the warmth in her belly spread to her face. "And there are other ways I can pay as well. In fact…"

Her hand reached out and took Lyrius' slender fingers in her own. "I'd like to have a long-term, personal payment plan, Lyrius. A permanent one."

"I will be happy to arrange that." Lyrius leaned forwards a bit as well and an actual smile slid onto his face. Soft, small, but there and powerful. "You are very beautiful. I am a creature of old habit and slow to stir, but I know this. I would kiss you, Judy LaBaron."

"Do it." She murmured and closed the distance. "Do it…"

So he did and he tasted cinnamon in the softness of her lips and her free hand flew up to slide itself along his cheek and tangle it in his hair. Her tongue pushed at his and a mutual tremor ran through them.

He pulled back and to his surprise, Judy followed him. She slid out of her chair, putting herself in his lap. Her eyes were still hidden by her stolen sunglasses but her face was flush with pleasure as Lyrius's arms went to her waist. She planted both hands on his face, cupping it and she lost herself in those white eyes, at the burning power in them. For a moment, the coppery scent of fresh blood mixed with the vanilla gently coming off him and Judy groaned softly as she locked their lips together again. "More...please."

There was an eager clapping and Judy jolted with a quiet yelp, throwing her arms around him on a reflex to keep herself from falling. The patrons of the Starbucks were politely ignoring the couple, some even outright fixating on the opposite side of the room, save for one young woman in a large university hoodie and a grey beanie, who was applauding the display.

Colour flooded back into Judy's face, and she slid back into her chair with a mortified expression. "I forgot we were in public…"

Lyrius, for his part, looked completely unruffled. "I take it this means you wish for us to engage in a relationship."

"As boyfriend and girlfriend? No…" Judy ducked her head, hiding in her hair and shook her head. Her gaze bore into the table. "I want you to be my most precious...my other."

"That is very poetic of you." Lyrius reached across and took his sunglasses back, sliding them onto his face. "Are you sure you want this?"

"I've been sure for a while now, Lyrius," Judy let out a breath and smiled at him strongly.

"I admit...you occupy much of my thoughts...and I would have you occupy my heart." Lyrius took her hand and kissed the back of it.

"Good." Judy stood, using their connection to draw Lyrius after her. "Let's go back to my place."

She squeezed his hand and turned to pull him towards the entrance when she caught sight of the person standing at the door to the cafe, blocking it and not caring or perhaps not even noticing thanks to the shocked expression their face.

"I do believe that is one of your exes." Lyrius said softly. "I also believe that he saw us kissing."

"Really? What gave it away?" Judy muttered back, tightening her grasp on his hand and lifting her chin, as they began to stride towards the door.

"Judy…" The man stepped to block their path. He had a group of flowers in one hand and a small box in the other, but they hung limply in his hands.

"David," Judy growled in response. "You know it helps if you order drinks in the queue, not in the doorway."

"Who is this man? Another one of your special friends?" David's expression morphed from hurt to insulted in a blink. "And don't get snippy."

Judy visibly bristled. "I'll get as snippy as I damn well please - I have nothing polite to say to a man who ends a relationship by having a childish temper tantrum. As for who he is," she inclined her head in Lyrius's direction, her hand squeezing his tightly. "That is none of your business. Now move it - your ego is blocking the door, and we have places to be."

"You always were a bit of a bitch, but that's not a reason to be hostile." David's tone was one of forced patience. "If this man is one of your unique friends, that's fine. I didn't mean to blow up like that. That's not how trust works. I'm sorry. So I came to apologize and…" He glanced down at the gifts in his hands and then his fists clenched.

"Look, I'm not perfect, but you were the most perfect thing to happen to me. I don't mind if you have a life you can't share with me. I want you back with me. It's where you belong." David nodded to himself. "I can give you what you need make you happy."

A short, judging glance at Lyrius. "More than your...artsy rebound man. Trust me, I know his type. He's not worth it in long run. Probably wants you to sponsor his work, right?"

He tucked the box farther under his arm and dug around in his pocket. "How much? I'd rather not have you involved in this - it's not your problem."

Judy looked as though someone had hit her in the face with a brick. Her mouth opened and closed several times as she gaped at her ex-boyfriend's sheer audacity.

"Sir." Lyrius' interjected smoothly. "I am sorry that your attempt was precluded to failure, but it is out of your control. And given how material your actions have been, it is clear to me that the only interest you have in satisfying anything is yourself with Miss LaBaron. Emotionally or physically." A slight eyebrow twitch up. "The phrase 'flash, but no substance' seems accurate, but that would imply you were any more surprising than a bowl of oatmeal. And as Judy has told you, you are nowhere near as filling."

"You...how…" David's face went slack and then it tightened in anger. "What gives you the right to talk to me like that? I am more than twice the man you are. And I know what Judy wants and how to give it to her. What do you have, you androgynous goth!"

Lyrius was spared from answering. Judy's voice had come back to her, in a burst of fury that rumbled through her voice like thunder.

"This is why I don't regret you walking out of my life! Let me explain something to you, David. You can buy flowers, and gifts and all the pretty words you want, but I am not for sale! You do not stamp a price on a person, or on trust. You don't understand me, so I guess it must be incomprehensible to you that I found someone who does."

"You..he.." David's eyes darted back and forth between the pair, then his face twisted in a sneer. "This is that guy you could really never get over, could you? Is that how it is with you? One good fuck and you just about up and marry him!?"

His would-be gifts dropped from his hands and he took a sharp step towards her, reaching out. "I am not going to let you slip away ag-"

There was a solid crunching noise, as Judy's fist impacted solidly with his nose. Several coffee-drinkers gasped in shock, and behind the bar, a mug smashed against the floor with a tinkle of china.

"Slip away with that," Judy snarled. "On your own! And don't ever try and touch me again!"

David reeled a bit and the crowd of patrons that had been trying to exit or enter backed off slightly. One hand flew to his nose and he felt it for a moment. Then he managed a smile. "That should have broken it…"

His eyes steadied, becoming reptilian and narrowed to slitted. "Is that what a half-dragon punch is like?"

Judy had no warning - Lyrius had seized her by the collar and hurled her to the side even as David lunged forwards and slammed a fist into Lyrius. The blow sent him flying backwards and David raised his fist triumphantly. "It worked."

He darted forwards again, slamming his foot into Lyrius' gut so hard the ground behind the prone man cracked. Around them, the terrified shoppers and businessmen began to flee for the door.

"I found those secrets you fought so hard to keep, Judy! Those special friends! I know what they are now! And I know what you are!"

He spun towards Judy as fangs sprouted from his mouth and the skin around his eyes and his neck began to darken into coal, a sheen flashing across it as scales began form. His nails lengthened into claws and he began to advance. "Dragon…"

Then a foot slammed into the side of his head and David went hurling into the bar, coffee and machinery exploding in a spray around him.

Lyrius didn't waste time - even as David began to pull himself free, a fist to the stomach doubled him over and then a knee to the face left him howling in pain. Lyrius seized him by the wrist as David clumsily threw a punch at him and there was a sickening crack as that elbow was crushed between Lyrius' knee and arm.

David screamed in pain and then it morphed into a gargling vomiting noise. Lyrius threw himself back as a wave of green launched from David's mouth, splashing over the countertops, wrecked machine and spilt coffee. A harsh sizzling filled the air, along with the smell of melted plastic and burnt coffee.

"He's gained the powers of a black dragon." Judy swore under her breath and then again as David's broken arm began to writhe and lash ungainly. With a grinding noise, it twisted back into proper shape. "Shit...high-speed regeneration? Dragons can't do that!"

The floor splintered as David launched himself towards them with an inhuman roar, but they just leapt aside in opposite directions. The transformed human whirled to face Lyrius. "Stay out of this!"

Then his eyes bugged out as he felt a sharp pain shoot up his spine and he glanced over his shoulder to see that a yard-long tail had sprouted…and Judy had a death grip on it with both hands.

"I'm done with this shit, thank you! Seriously, what does the universe have against me enjoying Starbucks? I always get attacked in them!"

Judy growled and strained, David hollering as she arced him above her with a fair amount of ease and spun, releasing his tail at just the right moment to send him headfirst into a wall. Dazed, the ex-boyfriend stumbled out of the hole he had made, tail whipping back and forth until he let out a small shriek as she seized it again and twisted it like taffy. "What do I have to do to have a nice quiet _drink_?!"

"Let...go!" His hand arced at her and the flesh rippled, black darts trailing green ripping free.

A tabletop flashed between them, the darts smashing into it and it clattered to the floor, hissing and popping as the acid ate through it like a hot knife through butter.

"We are going to draw attention. We need to contain him." Lyrius murmured as he sidled up next to Judy while David spun to face them, his tail coiling behind him.

"I don't have my capture jewel - it's my day off. All I have is my duel disk…" Judy suddenly grinned. "I've got it."

"Then deal with him. I will go delay the authorities until your teammates arrive." Lyrius vanished out the door.

Judy produced her Duel Disk, popping open a hidden slot on it and withdrawing a jet black Duel Monsters card. The blackness was mottled with various shades and looked oily. "If I'm right in assuming who gave your makeover, David, then I'm guessing he gave you a way to play Duel Monsters."

"So what if I can? I want you and I'm going to-" David broke off, head cocked as if listening to something and then a wicked grin revealed that he had a mouthful of fangs. "You want a Shadow Duel? Fine! I accept, because I win, I'll take you as a my prize!"

"You won't." Judy slid the black card into her Duel Disks' field slot. It melted away as she slid closed and the shadows around them rose up around them. They twined together to form an endless dome of black and purple shadows around the pair. "You're not in your right mind, David and I hate your guts, but I'm going to help you." (JLP: 8000)

"Oh you will once I win and change your mind!" David held up his right arm and a Duel Disk appeared there. (DLP: 8000)

He snapped up six cards. "I'm first! From my hand, I activate Foolish Burial, sending one monster from my deck to my graveyard. Then I'll set three cards face-down."

Three brown-backed cards flashed into existence in front of him. "End of turn!"

"Draw." Judy picked up her card and then slid one into her disk. "Sacred Sword of Seven Stars lets me banish a level seven monster from my hand to draw two cards."

She placed her chosen card in the appropriate spot in her disk and plucked two more from her desk. "I discard Breakdown Dancer to add one 'De-Fusion' from my deck to my hand."

She caught the card as it slid free from her desk and held up a second spell card. "Plains of Existence special summons one banished Normal Monster. Return, Gaia The Fierce Knight!"

The air split in front of her and with the sound of galloping hooves, a warrior wielding twin lances and astride a purple war horse charged out onto the playfield. (2300/1700)

"Polymerization fuses Gaia and the Red-Eyes Black Dragon in my hand to summon Gaia the Soaring Dragon Champion!" Gaia and a skeletal black dragon blurred together. When it snapped back to visibility, Gaia was now riding a large red dragon that was wearing heavy armor and glowing with flames. (2600/2100)

"When the Soaring Dragon Champion is summoned, I can add Spiral Spear Strike to my hand. And I'll be activating it." A continuous spell card materialized in front of her and Judy pointed across the field. "Gaia! Direct attack! Spiral Spear Strike!"

"Like you are that dense!" David held out a hand and his center set card flipped up. "Call Of The Haunted revives Brain Dragon!" Light spilled out of the shadows behind him, resolving into a coiled Eastern Dragon colored in mottled greens and blues. It had an extra large cranium. (2800/1000)

"So you're still using your Brain Game deck." Judy watched as her Dragon Champion veered to the side around the newly summoned monster and zipped back to her field. "You really don't change."

"It's beaten you before, so why fix what isn't broke?" David sneered. "And since you know it's coming, I'll activate my other two set cards! Declared Future and Sacrificial Lion!"

Judy watched as the two continuous trap cards flipped, the first one depicting a duelist sitting at a table with the Fortune Fairies and Fortune Ladies spread out of in front of him like Tarot. The other card depicted Warrior Dai Grepher attacking the Invader Of Darkness while Gagagigo and D.D. Warrior Lady attacked from behind.

"You remember how this works. Brain Dragon lets me draw two cards in addition to my normal draw on my next turn. Then I place two cards from my hand on my deck in any order. Declared Future lets me declare a monster name among the top three cards from my deck and Special Summon it, ignoring conditions but negating its effect and sending it to the bottom of my deck at the end of my turn." David folded his arms, tongue flicking a little too far from his mouth in what was probably supposed to be seductive, but was instead freakish.

"Sacrificial Lion gets around this, as when a monster I control battles, I can destroy at the end of my Battle Phase and gain life points equal to its level times two hundred." He chuckled confidently. "This means the gap between my opponents and becomes insurmountable."

"You keep talking like you're going to survive this turn!" Judy pointed at Brain Dragon. "Gaia! Attack!"

Wind kicked up as Gaia shot across the field with a single beat of his mount's wings, his lancing skewering Brain Dragon through the neck and it blow to pixels without so much as a whimper. David stared at the space where it had been in shock. "How…!?"

"This Gaia the Dragon Champion as a second effect, letting it change the battle position of any monster it picks a fight with. And since it counts as the original Gaia, it deals piercing damage thanks to Spiral Spear Strike!" Judy smirked as Gaia drove a lance through David. Despite the Shadow Game, it didn't cause any actual injury, but David howled all the same. (DLP: 6400)

"Then, since it dealt damage, I draw two card and discard one!" Judy prompt did so and then held up a spell card. "De-Fusion splits Gaia back into the Fierce Knight and Red-Eyes Black Dragon!"

The fusion glow and split into spheres of light that resolved into the knight on his original charger and the black skeletal dragon from earlier. " _Spiral Spear Strike! Inferno Fire Blast!"_ (2300/1700) (2400/2000)

David howled again as the dragon blasted him with a series of fireballs, then roared in frustration and anger as Gaia skewered him again. "That's enough!" (DLP: 6400-4000-1700)

His tail lashed against the ground, cracking part of it as he pointed at Judy with a growling sneer. "You failed to beat me! I still have life points and you're out of attacks! On my next turn, I'm going to destroy your monsters and win! And when I do, I'll give you everything you wanted. Starting with me!"

"You couldn't make me take you if you paid me! And since you actually tried that, you should know how well that goes!" Judy held up one more spell card. "Flash Fusion lets me fuse monsters on my side of the field together!"

"What!? No!" David threw up his arms defensively as Gaia and Red-Eyes charged, fusing together in mid-motion. The newly formed Dragon Champion slammed his weapon through the hybrid human so hard it sent him skidding backwards into the wall. "NOOO!" (DLP: 0)

"For my penalty game, I strip away the dragon inside of you! Return to your human, jackass self!" Judy pointed fiercely at him and he began to cough violently as the darkness around them began to disperse.

"This..this isn't fair…" David reeled as his tail faded away and the scales on his body flaked away to clatter on the ground. He pitched to all fours, blackness pouring from his lips briefly. "I had it...I was strong...I could take you."

He rose to his feet unsteadily, his staggering lurch morphing to a desperate run. "I won't allow that!"

Then he was promptly eating floor as Judy's fist hit him in the face for the second time that day.

OOO

"Wow, you _really_ can't go to Starbucks any more!" The South African woman put her hands on her hips as she surveyed the wreckage that the brief fight had caused. "You pay so much for damages, you might as well just buy out the chain."

"Jalal won't let me. He wrote it into the budget rules after the Abercrombie incident. So even if I become leader, I can't do it." Judy raked a hand through her hair. "Sorry to pull you out of your photoshoot, Becky."

"Coursework will still be there in the morning, Judy." Becky nudged a bit of debris with her foot speculatively. "The police are going to give us another twenty minutes, then they have to do their jobs. As pretty as Sheeta and I are, we can't delay them forever."

She folded her arms. "So, are you going to explain why we just trussed your ex up and sent him back to HQ? Or why he was out of what little mind he had left, when we got here?"

"Pretty sure it's Mister Monster," Judy nodded grimly. Even as she said it, thoughts of those dead eyes and tentacles were creeping back from her childhood nightmares. Becky hissed through her teeth.

"You think?"

"Mhmm. I don't know anything else that can take a ordinary Sensitive and turn them into a rampaging dragon mutant," Judy folded her arms and frowned. "I _do_ know that Monster doesn't do anything like take random people off the street and turn them loose. He picked David specifically to find me. Or maybe he let David track him down. Either way, that suggests that he's trying to trap me."

"And knowing you, you're going to go and try spring the trap early." Becky commented with a eyeroll.

"Hey, I'm taking Lyrius with me!" Judy jerked her thumb over her shoulder to where the dark-haired man was waiting, leaning against an alleyway and half-hidden in the shadows.

"Ah yes, mister tall dark and brooding," An unholy grin crept across Becky's face. "Although, you could give him a run on the brooding. How long has he occupied your 'best sex of all time' list now? Four years?"

"Five," Judy corrected, blushing as she realised what she had just said. As Becky cackled, she groaned. "So this is what it feels like to be on the other end of shipping."

"Hey, I'm totes happy for you hun," Becky gave her a one-armed hug. "So should I be wearing earplugs tonight?"

Rolling her eyes, Judy elbowed her friend away before she could develop a permanent case of red-cheeks. "No. If this is Mister Monster, then we need to start tracking this as fast as possible. Lyrius and I are going to head to David's old stomping grounds and see what we can dig up. I want you start pulling his and his family's finances. I know they're not that loaded, but Monster isn't cheap. So the money had to come from somewhere and it had to go somewhere."

"You're tracking down a known mad scientist and all around creep as your first date?" Becky drawled. "Why am I not surprised?" She saluted. "Very well, number one. To the research, I shall go!"

Lyrius appeared so suddenly behind Judy that both women jumped. "I have arranged our transportation, _sevetti._ "

His hand brushed against hers as he whistled softly. The note, oddly, began to echo for far longer than it should have and then suddenly faded completely.

For a moment, nothing happened. Then the shadows nearby began to waver and ripple like water. There was a rhythmic chiming noise and then they parted to allow a black unicorn to step free. Its golden horn glowed softly in the darkness and its mane was black and blue flames that moved with a life of their own. Similar flames were wrapped around its hooves, giving off the impression is was walking across a road of flames.

"A Nightmare…" Judy took a step back in surprise. Behind her, Becky mutely took out her phone and snapped a picture.

"This is Resonae." Lyrius swung himself onto the Nightmare's back, the flames fluttering harmlessly over him. "We are going to travel through the Outer Planes. We should be at our destination in an hour."

"Glasgow in an hour? Impressive." Judy took a cautious step towards the Nightmare, who whickered and jerked her head at the apparent intrusion. "And once there?"

"We'll be meeting with one of my contacts and then launch our investigation." Lyrius stroked the Nightmare's neck. "Let her ride, Resoane. She is...my significant other. Judy, you needn't be fearful."

"I'm not afraid." Judy said briskly.

"I would be. Nightmares are known to kill and eat anyone who isn't their chosen rider." Becky put in cheerfully. "They can sprout fangs! And I don't mean cute little nomming ones - I'm talking nasty big pointy teeth!"

She made stabbing motions with clawed fingers, while pretending to roar.

Judy eyed Resonae and she swore the Nightmare _smiled_ with those fangs. "Don't I have to beat it up before I can ride it?"

"Not unless you wish to spend a month on bedrest." Lyrius reached out a hand for her. "Resonae is only jealous. She will get over it."

"Okay...I suppose I trust you if I kiss you…" Judy took his hand and let herself be pulled up behind him, securing her arms firmly around his waist.

"Awww, it's like a fairytale!" Becky cooed, pulling out her phone and snapping another photograph. "Emily's going to _love_ this!"

"If that photo ends up on the internet, I will leave all your Lush products out in the rain!" Judy glared, as her friend drew a scandalised gasp at such blasphemy. Then a grin spread over both of their faces, and Becky reached up for one last hug, before hurrying off to get on with her job.

"Nervous?" Lyrius asked as Resonae cantered in place a bit underneath them, the simple movements flexing a lot more powerful muscle than Judy realized the equine had had.

"I am not." Judy said firmly. "No more than you were when I taught you how to handle a D-Wheel."

"I was nervous?" Lyrius' tone was soft, lilting. "Was it not you screaming for me to slow down?"

Judy scowled into into the back of his head so hard it might have a dent. "Just drive the unicorn already."

But Resonae needed no prodding and broke into a gallop in two smooth strides, all three of them vanishing into the shadows.

OOO

Created Cards:

Breakdown Breakdancer  
LIGHT  
3 stars  
Fairy/Effect  
1000/900  
Effect: You can discard this card from your Hand, add one 'De-Fusion' from your Deck to your Hand. You can tribute this face-up card on the field, target one Fusion Monster on the field and return it to the Extra Deck. If all of the Fusion Material Monsters used for the Fusion Summon of the targeted Fusion Monster are in the Graveyard, you may Special Summon the. (This is a Quick Effect)

Declared Future  
Continuous Trap Card  
Effect: Once per turn, you may declare the name of a Monster Card. Excavate the top three cards of your deck and if the declared Monster Card is among them, Special Summon it (ignoring Summoning Conditions.) The Monster Card summoned by this effect has its effects negated and cannot be used for a Xyz or Synchro Sumon or be Tributed. During the End Phase, place the summoned Monster on the bottom of your Deck.

Sacrificial Lion  
Continuous Trap Card  
Effect: At the end of the Battle Phase, you can select one Monster that you control that attacked this turn. Destroy that monster and gain 200 Life Points times the destroyed monster's level.


	2. We All Met In Prison!

Setting Shadows  
By 7th Librarian and Mei1105

Chapter 2: We All Met In Prison!

Rain was trickling uncomfortably down the back of Judy's neck. Trying not to shiver, she turned her head towards Lyrius, and shot him her best death glare. Her companion remained wholly unimpressed.

"...sorry," he offered blandly. "I cannot control everything. That includes the weather."

Pouting, Judy went back to scowling at the door. "I don't think anyone is in." She deadpanned, swinging herself around on the doorstep to survey the tiny square of paving stones that made up the front garden. Puddles were gathering on the concrete slabs. The rest of the terraced houses on the street conformed to the same layout. Some had fold up chairs sitting hopefully out the front, while one enterprising house had pot after pot of flowers filling the space. Other than that, nothing about the street really stood out.

"Are you sure it was okay to let Resonae leave?" Judy wanted to know. "I mean, what if your friend isn't home, and we have to try somewhere else?"

"We won't need to," Lyrius stated, still gazing steadily at the door. "She will show up."

"...before or after we freeze to death?" Judy groused, wishing more than ever that they had just been able to leave the coffee shop unmolested. "We could be finishing what we started earlier right now…"

A smouldering gaze landed on her, and suddenly being cold and damp was no longer a problem.

" _Sevetti,_ I have every intention of finishing what we started earlier," a wicked smirk was curling at Lyrius's lips, in a way that made Judy's knees weak. His arms slipped around her waist and he kissed her again, deep yet briefly. "This should keep you warm in the time between now and then."

"Mmm, thank you sir. May I have another?" Judy purred throatily.

An eyebrow rose above the sunglasses.

"Please? For me?" Judy pressed herself closer and nosed at his cheek a bit. Again, the scent of vanilla filled her briefly. "Or should I take it?"

"That will not be the only thing you take if you do." Lyrius murmured back, but kissed her again. Longer this time and his hands tightened on her body in pleasing ways. "This will suffice."

"Mmmm…" licking her lips Judy let her hands slid over his chest and grinned at the feeling of his hard body underneath the wet clothing. "So strong...I like it..."

"Judy, _sevetti_ …" There was a faint, oh-so faint, catch to Lyrius voice. "Manners demand that if you touch me like that in the middle of the road, I may touch you like that as well."

"Well, I am a polite woman if nothing else…" She linked one set of their hands together, sliding them both up her stomach-

-only to jump back with a scream as a carton of eggs slammed into her head.

" _You!"_ the voice was dark and furious, and Judy knew it immediately, even as the first strike was followed up by a flying plastic bottle of milk. The half dragon howled as the second projectile caught her in the shoulder and exploded in a messy shower at her feet, drenching her shoes and socks in milk. She had no idea that groceries could hurt so much.

Lyrius' hand plucked the third piece of ammo (a tin of alphabet spaghetti) from the air like it had been standing still and there was a tone in his voice that brooked no argument. " _Mora."_

"Don't you _Mora_ me, Lyrius Stormcloud!" came the angry response, but the broccoli clasped in the drow's hand remained there, instead of on a collision course with anyone's skull. "What the _fuck_ are you playing at, bring _her_ to our doorstep?!"

Blinking through humiliation and pain, Judy made out the attacker, stood on the pavement, her chest heaving with anger. Ten years had aged Mora a surprising amount for a drow, giving her lines of worry and a shadow of caution that she had never possessed before. She had dyed her hair dark red, and the sight of her in jeans and a hoodie, carrying a plastic bag full of groceries was completely at odds with the last time she had seen her, slumped unconscious in the middle of the M25. The rain soaking her steadily, along with the genuine fear creeping into her eyes, was not helping the image.

Then time snapped back and the groceries hit the pavement, Mora's hands reaching for what appeared to be nothing. At the same time, the drow was starting forwards towards Judy, murder evident in her gaze-

-only for a firm hand to seize her shoulder, and Judy received her second surprise of the afternoon, as Bright wrapped both arms around Mora and pulled her tight to his chest.

"Stop it," he said, in a low but firm voice. "You're better than this. You know you are."

It was up for debate whether Mora agreed with him, but the rage seemed to drain out of her quickly regardless. The broccoli went limp in her hands, and Judy decided that it was safe to emerge from behind Lyrius now.

"It is alright, Mora. Judy is not here because of, or for you. _I_ am here for you, my friend. And…" The air seemed to intensify slightly around Lyrius. "You are, and always be, under my protection. You are still safe."

Judy's eyes shot back and forth between the two. A growl of frustration was crawling out of Mora's throat, complete with both hands reaching up to pull at her hair. Perhaps wisely, Bright pushed her back into the passenger seat, before retrieving the grocery bags from the street.

"We're not doing this in the rain," he declared, fishing in his pocket for keys.

"Agreed," Lyrius smiled as though nothing were amiss. "I shall fetch the rest of the bags." He nodded to Judy, indicating that she should go ahead without him. Her shoulder was still hurting, and she had a million misgivings about this, but she bit her tongue and followed Bright as he shouldered the door open.

All of the usual awkwardness Judy felt upon entering a strange home for the first time was multiplied tenfold, and it warred furiously with her curiosity, as Bright breezed down the narrow hallway to the kitchen. The staircase was playing host to multiple pairs of shoes, some adult, some child-sized. Not really certain that she had been invited to explore, Judy slipped through the open door opposite the stairs, and found the living and dining room. It seemed normal, cluttered with books, DVDs and other knick knacks, and she had to pinch her arm to remind herself that she was in the home of her onetime enemy.

Speaking of her, she moved to the large window, wincing something sharp dug awkwardly into the bottom of her shoe. She kicked the small block of Lego away, before twitching back the curtain to have a look into the street. In spite of her concerns, her eyes were automatically drawn to Lyrius first, and she felt her eyebrow arch, as she caught him rubbing his cheek. Mora had clearly taken the bulk of her anger out on his face. More curious than anything now, Judy pressed her ear to the cold glass and tried to listen.

OOO

There were a lot of bags in the back of the car.

Lyrius moved as though he had all the time in the world, taking them one at a time and setting them down in a neat row on the pavement with care, less they contain anything else breakable. Mora remained in the passenger seat, her fingernails digging into her knees through the thick fabric of her jeans. Water was dripping off her hair and down the back of her neck as she tried to compose herself. Breaths came out of her in deep, controlled waves.

"That is a rather exquisite shade of red you are sporting this season."

Her eyes snapped up as he stood over her. In a fluid motion, she rose and slapped him clean around the face. His only reaction was to blink and reach one hand up to wipe the palmprint of raindrops off his cheek.

"Don't even think of treating me like a pet who's had her fur rubbed the wrong way!" the drow snarled. "Tell me? Has all this time wandering around the world with nothing to do robbed you of all your common sense?!"

"You get carelessness of the mouth when your anger runs away with you, Mora," Lyrius said gently. "You are safe. Judy is here on my behalf and as I have told you many times, the Shadowchasers have long since stopped caring about you and yours."

"They _had_ stopped caring," Mora corrected, her voice an angry hiss. "Do you really think the lizard will let it go, now that she knows where we live? Charges don't magically disappear just because you get kidnapped from prison!"

She whirled on her heel, seized her handbag from the front, and slammed the car door closed behind her. Lyrius mentally counted to ten, as she busied herself with picking up the shopping.

"As I said earlier," he began patiently. "Judy is not here to pursue you for your crimes against her. I am here because I need your assistance-"

"And of course, what you want takes priority!" his companion spat. "This was a safe place, Lyrius! I needed it to remain safe! You _knew_ that! So don't you dare stand there and act as though I am behaving irrationally - how the fuck did you think I was going to react, when you bring danger to me like this?"

She looped two bags around her wrist, leaving her finger free to poke him squarely in the chest. "You know what your problem is? You've spent so long being an untouchable demi-god you've forgotten that not all of us can punch or sword swing our way out of our problems!"

The second poke was caught before it could hit its target. "There are no problems here. Judy will not say or do anything against you. You are stronger than you were ten years ago. There is nobody waiting to bring you or your family harm. Your demons are all in your mind."

She yanked her finger free and glared scornfully.

"Must be so nice to live in such a clean cut world," she muttered, spite dripping from her words. Bringing herself barely an inch from his face, she hissed the rest of her statement with venom. "Don't you _dare_ stand there and act like you know best where my demons are. You have no idea what it's like to live in my mind."

She turned and stormed through the rain to her front door. Lyrius gave a sigh before helping himself to the remaining bags. A smile ghosted at his lips as he saw the curtains to the living room twitch suspiciously, and the figure within dart for safety of a sofa. Chuckling, he slowly meandered up the path to the open front door, Mora having already barged down the narrow hall and into the kitchen, where she was noisily putting groceries away.

"I feel I should be getting a towel…" Bright muttered, having given up unpacking to boil the kettle and watch the spectacle unfold.

"Don't be stupid," Mora growled. "He's too fucking perfect to get wet in the rain."

She made a point of slamming the undemolished carton of milk into the fridge, causing Lyrius to smother a chuckle as he closed the front door. He would let Mora be angry for now, knowing that eventually it would burn off. Through the open door into the dining and sitting room, Judy had perched herself uncomfortably on the sofa, clearly wanting nothing more than to vanish into the upholstery. Depositing the bags quietly inside the kitchen doorway, Lyrius quickly made himself scarce to join her. Her hand slid into his and squeezed before trailing up to stroke at his cheekbone.

"...you have a knack for getting hit today." He chuckled.

"Releases more tension than it creates. Bright will have her calm enough for business soon."

"I heard that, you prick!" came the angry voice from the kitchen. Judy pulled a face.

"Why her?" she whispered. "You could have picked anyone in the universe, and you just _had_ to pick the woman who kidnapped me and my friends? And don't pretend you had no idea - I _know_ you've read my file."

She folded her arms and tried to look stern, determinedly not paying attention to the fact that Lyrius had not let go of her hand and his thumb was gently stroking the inside of her wrist.

"Mora came first, then you. The connection was not known until recently." Lyrius said. "She is not a criminal. Not anymore."

"Really?" Judy said her voice practically submerged in sarcasm. "I have some very prominent scars from the M25 on my arms that say otherwise."

"Had she remained in custody, she would have gotten a year in prison and then parole given her circumstances at the time." Lyrius pointed out. "Lolth took her from that prison to the Abyss. The best of your imagination falls short of the least of what happened there."

There was a moment as Judy twitched uncomfortably as her imagination did do its best to tell her what a goddess of revenge was capable of to one who had disappointed her.

"Do you find that it still matters to you?" He wanted to know. Feeling more uncomfortable with every second that passed, Judy directed her gaze to the floor.

"...no," she muttered.

Lyrius squeezed her hand and threaded their fingers together. "Mora is one of my staunchest allies and moreover, she is my friend. I swear that there be no danger or trouble between you and her."

A recent memory danced in Judy's mind - a story Emily had reported a few weeks ago of running into a former classmate and secondary school tormentor in the street. Natalie had obliviously offered a cheerful greeting, which had not been reciprocated, as Emily had proceeded to unleash years of pent up cutting remarks, which had left the other woman looking rather mortified and ashamed of herself. Judy had later chastised Emily for not being the bigger woman, to which her short friend had inflated.

"She made my life _hell_ , Scales. And she thought that after ten years, I might actually have been stupid enough to forget that she tormented me every day of my life. I was merely returning the favour for five short minutes. And fuck me, it was sweet!"

This must be what it was like to run into your school bullies ten years down the line, Judy reflected. Although, school bullies rarely kidnapped you unless they were the sadistic kind. Still the parallels were uncanny, and the Shadowchaser realised with a sinking feeling, that she risked being a hypocrite of the worst kind if she did not do what Emily had not - be the better woman.

"...fine," feeling just a little bit petulant,she relented. "But if I wake up with a knife in my back, I want you to remember this conversation, so I can say 'I told you so'."

"Mora will do no harm, save with what she believes to be her razor-sharp wit." Lyrius' lips twitched into a smirk for a moment. "You will find that you two are more alike than either would admit."

He was saved a blistering affront, by the sound of the front door slamming against the wall of the hallway.

"...eww!" came a childish voice. "Eli! Mummy and Daddy are kissing in the kitchen!"

Feet were scuffing against the doormat, and the zipper of a coat followed swiftly.

"What is it Nate says?" came a second voice. "Get a room?"

An embarrassed looking Mora appeared in the doorway to the kitchen. "Eli! Don't be rude! And I've told you before to stop slamming the door!"

The first voice giggled madly, while the second adopted a bashful tone. "Sorry Mum."

There was a thud as shoes were discarded on the doormat, before the first of the little voices appeared in the living room doorway. Judy had to stare, for she had never seen a drow child before. The little girl wore a blue school blazer and tie, and her hair in loose pigtails. Her red eyes went round as they took in the two visitors on the sofa, and as the second figure appeared, she turned and buried her face bashfully into his side. The boy was older than her, and he had already stuffed his school tie into his pocket. His own eyes scanned the sofa, narrowed suspiciously at Judy, before turning open and friendly at the sight of Lyrius.

"Elihu, Nayana, this is Judy. She is a friend. She will not bite." Lyrius said to them. There was a brief pause as he apparently glanced over the two children. "Eli, why did you get into a fight today?"

The little boy's cheeks went dark. "Did not!"

"You're a terrible liar," Mora said, hurrying out of the kitchen and kneeling before her eldest to check for damage. She pointedly avoided looking at her guests on the sofa.

"I didn't!" Eli protested, folding his arms. "It's not a fight if you don't hit back!"

Blinking hard, Mora rubbed her temple. "Okay, walk us through it, honey."

The boy huffed and marched across the room to sit in the office chair. Lacking her hiding space, Naya darted behind her mother instead, her eyes sliding cautiously out every so often to stare at Judy.

"Sal came at me with a compass," Eli kicked his heels petulantly against the chair. "I sidestepped him, and he ran into the wall."

"Not by far enough. Your sleeve is torn." Lyrius pointed out the damage on the uniform. He stood and moved over to Mora, holding out one hand. Naya flicked her eyes between Judy, her mother and Lyrius, then grabbed his hand and half-climbed, half-let herself-be pulled into arms. "Why do you let him persist in antagonizing you, Elihu? If teachers will not prevent his aggression, do so yourself."

"Number one," Eli ticked off his fingers. "The teachers say I can't use karate at school. Number two…" a smile flickered at his lips. "It was more fun to watch him run into the wall. The other boys thought so too."

Mora snorted in amusement as Bright appeared with tea. "I've taught you well. So you're not hurt?"

"Nope," the boy shook his head.

"Did _he_ get hurt?"

"The wall broke his nose."

"There was blood everywhere!" a giggle escaped Naya, and she ducked her head into Lyrius's neck as he and Judy gave her a look. "I'm sorry, but I didn't want to feel bad for him - he was making fun of Eli!" She extracted her face and glanced around for a distraction. "Is that tea for us?"

"No it is not," Mora said. "Go upstairs and get changed first. And I want your uniforms in the laundry basket please, not on the floor!"

"Yes Mum."

Eli trotted off obediently as Lyrius put Naya down. The little girl lingered, before giving his leg a final squeeze and scurrying up the stairs after her brother.

"And both of you find your kit bags for tomorrow morning!" Mora stuck her head through the door to holler at her offspring.

"Yes Mum!"

"Pinch me," Judy muttered to Lyrius, as the children left. Seeing the odd look that he was shooting her over the top of his sunglasses, she shrugged. "What? Mora's behaving normally. I feel like I'm in the Twilight Zone. I want to make sure I've not slipped into a parallel dimension again."

"I'll dimension your face in a minute," Mora's hand was twitching around her mug of tea. "And don't you bloody start!" she added, seeing Lyrius open his mouth. "I'm still pissed at you!"

She downed half of her tea with a dark glare, satisfied that everybody knew where they stood with her.

"So." Bright passed Lyrius a mug of tea, clearly too used to his wife's moods to make any sort of comment on it. "Business."

Mora muttered something very unflattering in her mother tongue, before settling in the armchair with her own mug, grumpily. Lyrius politely pretended that he could not speak drow or see her sulking, and began to explain.

"One of Judy's exes attacked us today in a Starbucks in London. He had been turned into a partial half-dragon by Mister Monster. He is from Glasgow and we are going to backtrack his recent life to both find Monster and ensure others are not similarly affected." Lyrius took a sip of his tea. "As for Monster...he will be eliminated."

"Do you mean for us to start immediately?" Bright wanted to know.

"No. Judy's teammates are looking into his personal records and finances. Once we know more, we will begin. It will be tomorrow, at the latest."

"Will you need us both or just one?"

"I would enjoy Mora's company for the duration, Bright, while your technical talents would be put to more use to finding out where the money went." Lyrius said and tilted his head in Mora's direction. She huffed and looked away.

"If either of you get anymore aloof, you're going to punch holes in the roof." Judy chimed in grumpily, obviously annoyed she had not been given a mug of tea. Lyrius passed her his and she blew him a kiss, prompting Mora to gag into her own mug. The second it touched her lips her eyes began to water, and she shoved it back into his hands. "That is _not_ tea!"

"It is a brew an oni tribe known as the Wild Bunch drinks. A Shadowchaser, Harley, introduced it to me after we nearly killed each other." Lyrius took his drink back and sipped it. Judy's rolling eyes landed on Mora.

"Don't look at me, lizard," the drow scoffed. "We only stock it for him. Well…" she directed her glare to Bright. "Most of the time."

Her husband smiled pleasantly. "There's enough caffeine in it to resuscitate a bull elephant - perfect for night shifts."

Naya put any herd of bull elephants to shame as she ran down the stairs, practically flying. She had ditched her uniform in favour of jeans, a Minecraft t-shirt and bare feet. Seeing all four grown ups with serious faces on, she skidded to a halt by the door and shyly hid her own face in the wood.

"Yes Naya?" Mora said, inviting her youngest to emerge from her comfort zone and speak.

"Can Mister Lyrius come play Dinosaur Circus with me, Mummy?" the little girl asked, pink rushing to her cheeks.

"Yes he can," Mora nodded, before Lyrius could have any say in the matter. A devious grin crossed her face. "In fact, do you still have those face paints that Santa gave you for Christmas?"

Naya bobbed her head, sending her pigtails flapping, while Lyrius spared Mora the most reproachful glare he could muster in the presence of a child. The drow merely smiled sweetly back at him.

"Why don't you paint his face - then he can be a clown in the circus."

The little girl squeaked and clapped her hands. "Good idea! Come on Mister Lyrius!"

And she charged back up the stairs with her new playmate in tow. Both Mora and Bright shared amused grins at the sight of one of the most badass warriors in history being ordered around by a six year old. Judy felt her own lips twitch, before she reminded herself that she was not supposed to be agreeing with the homicidal drow.

The scary thing was, Mora wasn't acting homicidal. In fact, ignoring her outburst at their arrival and her overall bad mood, she was displaying none of the psychopathic traits she had possessed ten years ago. As she got up from the armchair with her empty mug and paused to take her husband's, the two exchanged a brief hand squeeze, and an entire conversation seemed to take place silently in a single glance, before Mora headed off to the kitchen. It struck Judy as the sort of look that she had seen Jalal and Maria, or Adrian and Mei exchange - one that suggested that they knew exactly what the other was thinking, and they were with them.

 _Mora's smiling,_ a cynical part of her brain pointed out. _You should be afraid, not psychoanalysing it._

"Stare all you like," Bright's dry voice cut through her internal monologue. The drow was examining her with the same level of scrutiny that she had just been giving his wife. "There's no deep mystery of the universe here."

A flush blew across Judy's face, and she glanced awkwardly away to the floor. Her eyes found the stray block of Lego from earlier, and the shame crept up another iota.

A god was listening to her mood today as her phone went off. Relieved, she answered it before the first ring had even finished. "Hello!"

" _Judy."_ Jalal's voice had two settings when it addressed her like that - 'Boss' and 'Parent' - and this one was firmly in the former category. " _Why did Starbucks call us again, asking for another new store?"_

Judy drew a sharp breath in and let it out as she tried desperately to formulate an answer. Why had she been so keen to take this phone call again? "Oh yeah...didn't Becky fill you in?"

" _Yes, and when she got over her fit of cackling, she told me to call you. She then performed a little sing song about how you were getting very laid tonight - something I really didn't need to learn, thank you very much."_

Groaning, Judy jumped to her feet and excused herself from the room, already wondering just how she was going to talk her way out of this one.

OOO

"Hold still now!" Naya demanded, pointing the brush at Lyrius to show she meant business. "I need to give you a biiiiig smile!"

Feeling a little apprehensive, Lyrius did as instructed, and allowed the little girl to carefully dab black paint over his lips.

"You look like you're wearing lipstick," Eli snickered, rolling up the orange belt and stuffing it into his bag with the rest of the gi.

"Boys can wear lipstick!" his sister reminded him. "Mister Peters at school wears it."

Lyrius politely declined to mention the times he had gone undercover as a woman, moreso out of wanting to avoid the image of their mother to the kids as she had wound up being passed over in favor of him. "You would make a good clown as well, Elihu."

The little boy pulled a face. "No way, I'm always the clown. This time, it's your turn."

"Strange it always seems to be my turn whenever I am here." Lyrius waited until Naya was finished and she was beaming at him. "Would you like to be a dinosaur, Naya?

"I'm not a dinosaur! I'm the circus leader!" She rummaged under her bed and pulled out a squashed purple top hat. "See?"

"Circuses don't have dinosaurs." Eli corrected with a huff.

"Mine do," Naya stuck her tongue out at him. "You're old, Mister Lyrius. Did you have circuses with dinosaurs?"

"I am not quite that old, though I did once have a circus with a dragon." Lyrius obligingly held still again and allowed the little girl to add the large red spots to his cheeks. "It did some rather impressive firebreathing tricks."

"Can you do that?" Naya wanted to know and Eli looked equally curious. "You have magic. Mummy says so."

"Fire is not to be used in the house. Your mother was quite clear on that after the incident with the curtains." Lyrius informed them gently and both children's faces fell.

"...are you taking Mummy away again?" Naya asked, glancing up at her clown with big eyes.

"...yes." Lyrius said after a moment. "We have to go to work."

Both children exchanged looks. The nuances of drow sign language were lost on Lyrius, but he could see the children's silent conversation, coupled with their expressions. Clearly this was Serious Business.

"...are you going to look after her?" Eli asked, folding his arms and trying to make himself look taller. "We know what happens when Mum gets sick."

Naya bobbed her head in agreement.

"I will look after your mother. " Lyrius told them. "She will be alright if she gets sick."

"Will you make her take her pills?"

"Yes."

"Do you promise?" Naya said insistently.

"Yes."

"I want to hear you say you promise." Naya told him sternly. "You have to say you promise or it doesn't count!"

"I promise, Naya. Your mother will be safe with me."

The little girl folded her arms and glanced at her brother. Another silent conversation flowed between them, before Naya smiled.

"Okay, you're allowed to take Mummy with you." She declared formally, brightening up and thrusting a piece of paper which said 'tikit' on it in childish chicken scratch toward her brother. "Eli, are you going to visit the circus?"

Eli's eyes went wide. "No I'm going to play on the Wii. I'll see you guys later."

And he sprinted for the door.

"Hmmph. A tactical retreat." Lyrius said thoughtfully, only for a strong hand to latch onto his.

"Not you too!" Naya said stubbornly. "You can't do that, Mister Lyrius! Vanishing into shadows is mean! And you're not a mean man! You're Mister Lyrius!"

"...damned by faint praise." Lyrius shook his head as Naya cocked her own at him in confusion. "Do not mind an old man, little one. Now, where is this circus taking place?"

OOO

" _Honestly, he is such an ass!"_

"How so, hun?" A phone was tucked between a neck and head, nearly swallowed by the thick graying blonde waves of hair cascading over it. "Did you deserve it this time?"

" _No! For once, I didn't!"_ Mora exclaimed, huffing over the noise of a knife slicing deftly through vegetables. " _He just shows up here, with his tongue down that lizard's throat-"_

"Huh. Knew he was into other species. Didn't think they weren't all mammals." Shifting herself a bit, the phone's owner pushed some hair out her purple eyes and examined the spread of papers before her. "Or did he finally hook up with Judy LaBaron? Poor man's been pining more than a Christmas tree."

" _Ugh please don't make me think about those two having sex!"_ Mora groaned. _"It's all I can do to tolerate her in my house!"_

"Hun, you know just as well as I do that Lyrius wouldn't have brought her without knowing the consequences. He probably thinks is a good way for you to bury the hatchet and let go of that bit of anxiety." The woman paused. "Okay, well, you're you, so it's less of burying the hatchet and promising not to stab her in the back with it."

She pulled the cap off a marker with her mouth and began to circle and checkmark seemingly random numbers of the massive spreadsheet of such before her. "At any rate, Mora, he trusts you enough to risk someone he loves like he loves Iris to your care if need be. You know how hard that is for him. Most of the time, I have to shove help down his throat."

"..." she could practically hear the feral growl trying to force its way out of Mora's throat. " _Stop being so rational! It's so much easier for me to be pissed at him."_

"Of course it is, hun. Anger is an easy path to walk, but it's all downhill." The woman said pointedly. "We all know that firsthand. Just remember that he loves you dearly and has moved heaven and hell for you, along with being your employer, landlord and teacher. He never asks much, so please do this for all of us? Don't like her if you don't want to, but if you _do_ find yourself liking her, don't hate it, either."

"... _I should know better than to call you for ranting."_ There was a misstep in the rhythmic knife, and the drow yelped.

"Mind the knife. It's sharp." The woman said with a warning tone.

" _Screw you,"_ Mora's reply was hindered by her finger taking up space in her mouth. " _The things we do for that bloody man…"_

"Aww, don't be so petulant." The woman began shuffling some of the papers around. "Would a few thousand pounds suddenly appearing your bank account soothe your wounded pride and make you hate him less?"

" _If you can square it for our tax returns, I'd love it. The kids want to go to Legoland for the summer holidays."_ Mora said.

"You need to bring those two adorable munchkins down here more often. Never mind Legoland, take your vacation here in Arcadia. We'll babysit so you and Bright can have a honeymoon." The woman grinned. "Make him pay for it."

A snort came from the other end. " _Maybe when this is over. I'd better go. I have munchkins to feed."_

"Where're you going to hide the green things this time?"

" _Macaroni and cheese. Works every time-"_ She was interrupted by a loud, rhythmic banging noise. " _Naya! No tap dancing in the house!"_

With a knowing grin, the woman hung up and leaned back in her office chair before hollering out of her door. "Melissa! Fran! They shacked up, but didn't have sex yet! You both owe me a hundred bucks!"

OOO

"I cannot believe I didn't get to see it!"

Peering over the top of her laptop screen, Becky lifted both eyebrows at her teammate. "I didn't want to deprive you of your favourite task of flirting with the metropolitan police."

"But this is _huge!_ " Sheeta threw herself onto the sofa with an angry snort. "I mean she's only had a thing for this guy since forever!" Folding her legs under herself, she twisted so that she could lean right into Becky's face. "What was he _like_?"

Huffing, Becky tipped her head back into the sofa. "We're supposed to be doing research on our teammate's wanker of an ex - not gossiping about the man of her dreams!"

"You're a woman - multitask," came the response.

"You're a Shadowchaser - do some work," Becky retorted, placing another laptop into her teammate's flailing hands. "Come on. If we find something tonight, maybe we can facetime Judy and you'll be able to see Lyrius for yourself."

"Argh! Fine!" swiping her finger dramatically over the screen to wake it up, Sheeta began to type furiously, pausing only to wriggle her toes as Lizzie came and draped herself languidly over her feet. "What am I looking for?"

"Well I've got HMRC, open in front of me," Becky reported. "There's a couple of savings accounts here - all offshore, naturally - and a trust fund, by the looks of it. Why don't you start seeing if Dickface David has been spending any of it? Numbers are on the coffee table."

Sheeta seized the papers, and began typing. "Okay, I'm working, now spill! Is he as dreamy as Judy makes out?"

Typing a string of numbers into the screen, Becky huffed. "I guess. I mean, he's totally Judy's type-"

A pair of dark eyebrows arched. "Tall and handsome?"

"In a dark, brooding sort of way." The fingers continued their sprint over the keys even as their owner answered.

"Intelligent?"

"Sophisticated as fuck," Becky snorted, pulling a face as she spoke. "Seriously, makes Stephen Fry sound like a chav."

"Strong?"

"Well if the mess they made in Starbucks is anything to go on…"

"Oooh excellent!" Sheeta clapped her hands. "You know she _loves_ that!"

"Yeah she does," Becky's lips twitched into a smile. "Alright, I'm being less than enthusiastic. He's brooding, has a tragic angst cloud following him around, needs some colour in his wardrobe - seriously, the Phantom of the Opera wants his gig back-"

Sheeta fell against the sofa cackling.

"But overall, from that five minute introduction I had, I think he's just what she's looking for," Becky surmised. "And if he's not, we can crack his nuts when they get back."

"Excellent!" smirking, Sheeta's eyes went back to scanning the computer screen as the page refreshed. "And speaking of things we're looking for, looks like you were right. Dickface David aged into his trust fund and most of it seems to have gone out in the last few months…"

She twisted to peer over at Becky's screen. "He didn't move it into his savings accounts, did he?"

"Doesn't look like it," Becky tabbed over to the appropriate screen. and began to scroll. "Pretty standard here. No large sums suddenly appearing, and no changes to the amount of tax owed either."

Sheeta scowled at the list of transactions. "Oh you naughty boy - you've moved it offshore, haven't you?" She sighed. "Now we have every low-tax jurisdiction on the planet to check, and no idea where to start."

"Never thought I'd miss having Kenshin nearby," Becky muttered, jumping suddenly as her phone vibrated against her butt.

"...if that's Kenshin, and she's suddenly developed the powers of precognition, God help us all." Sheeta muttered.

It wasn't Kenshin. Instead a familiar face with blonde hair and grey eyes appeared.

"Aha! There's our illustrious leader!" Becky lounged back against the sofa with her phone at arms length in front of her.

"Oooh yay! Where's the hot piece of manflesh, then?" Sheeta practically bounced on the carpet, her head jumping in and out of the screen like a jack-in-a-box. On the other end of the line, Judy looked ten times more anxious than she had when she had left Starbucks, and Becky felt her heart sink. She knew that face.

"He's not my manflesh, Sheeta," came the heavy sigh from the other end of the smartphone. "Actually, can you give me and Becks a moment alone? Then you can see Lyrius and judge him all you like."

Becky's fallen face pinched into a frown. "Christ on a bike. What have you done now?"

"Nothing!" Judy sounded exasperated. "I just want to tell you this now, myself, before you hear it from another source." Tilting her head up slightly, she added. "Sheeta, she can tell you what it is later, but I really want to discuss this with Becky first."

Becky's anxious frown turned to face Sheeta. The Indian Shadowchaser shrugged, before hopping to her feet.

"Fine by me. Need to think about dinner anyway. Come on Puppy-cat."

She trotted off to the kitchen, with Lizzie following curiously behind her.

"Alright, go ahead," Becky sighed, as the sounds of cupboard doors being thrown open emerged from the next room. "Give it to me."

Muffled speech came through the phone, and Judy's nervous expression switched to one of protracted irritation, and she twisted in her seat to shout over her shoulder. "Oh seriously? Grow up!"

A little surprised, Becky lifted both eyebrows, as her friend got up and moved through a narrow corridor and out into the evening sunshine. "I'm guessing that wasn't Lyrius - he struck me as being a little too sophisticated for 'that's what she said' jokes."

"No, it wasn't…" Judy seemed to chew on her words, before huffing. "I guess I'd better just come out with it. Mora Ravenswood."

Becky's eyebrows narrowed, dread suddenly taking up residence in her gut as she recalled the drow who had kidnapped them and been partially responsible for her introduction to life on the other side of the veil. "...what about Mora Ravenswood?" She asked, her voice darkening.

"...well she's not in the Abyss anymore," Judy began. "No idea how that happened exactly, but Lyrius had something to do with it. She's alive, well, and living in Glasgow with her former bodyguard and two children."

Becky felt her mind sluggishly creak to a halt as it struggled to absorb the latest information. Several stray thoughts tried to make themselves known, but they were swiftly blown away. Swallowing hard, she held up a finger. "Scuse me a minute."

She tossed her phone onto the sofa, leaving Judy to stare at the ceiling, before trotting off to the cabinet next to the TV. Behind the row of DVDs sat a secreted bottle of gin. Pouring herself a short measure, and adding a tonic water from the bottle on the end table, Becky returned to the sofa, taking cautious sips of her drink.

"Our ceiling really needs a touch up," Judy commented, as soon as Becky reappeared. Her voice seemed to jar her mind out of its reboot phase, and she swiftly gulped down half of her glass at once.

"...okay," she said, setting the rest of the tumbler on the end table just in case it was necessary later. "Soooo I take it you've seen her?"

A sober nod replied. "I'm sitting on the front wall of their house. I could give the google map reference if I felt like it."

"By rights you should," Becky pointed out carefully, for she sensed that this was far more complicated than that. "Her sentence was never carried out. She's still technically a wanted criminal."

Pursing her lips, Judy slowly let out a breath. "I know. I said as much to Lyrius. I really don't like this. I mean, she kidnapped us, for fucks sake. We've all still got scars."

Becky's hand drifted to her side to rub at the knot of skin by her hip.

"She wasn't happy to see me either - threw groceries at me until Bright stopped her, and I'm about ninety percent sure she's going to stab me first chance she gets."

She drew a long breath to mark the end of her complaints.

"...but?" Becky encouraged, sensing that it was there.

"...but she was Lolth's prisoner," Judy said, her voice a little weak as though she really could not believe that she was making this excuse for Mora of all people. "I mean, we always guessed as much from the security footage. I don't even know how long she was there for, but it was probably too long. It must have been…"

She trailed off, apparently unwilling or unable to put a word to describing just how being trapped in the Abyss must have felt. Becky could not really blame her, but she still felt the need to be the rational one.

"I know what you mean," she said. "I really do. But - and I say this as Shadowchaser, not a victim - does that really mean we should just leave it? I mean...let's say we were dealing with Bayle."

She saw Judy pull a face. Bayle was a fire elemental who had spent most of the previous year on a one man mission to set fire to as many British monuments as possible. He had hit Madame Tussauds, Marble Arch and the Natural History Museum before the Shadowchasers had caught up with him. A timely outburst of good British weather had prevented Buckingham Palace from going up in flames, and Judy had been the one to slap him with a capture jewel, while Becky had politely explained themselves to the Queen (who had taken the whole situation rather well in the end).

"Let's say he'd legged it from the palace before we got there, and got caught in the thunderstorm," Becky suggested. "The rain would have really hurt him, possibly almost killed him if he'd been really unlucky. But being injured wouldn't exactly negate his arson charges. You see?"

"I know," the half dragon sighed heavily. "And you're right. It shouldn't negate the crime…" She turned to look over her shoulder, at what Becky could on assume was the house. "But on the other hand…"

A thought occured, and Becky scowled at the screen. "You're not thinking of leaving it just because Lyrius says so and his word is law now because he's your boyfriend?"

"Fuck no!" Judy exclaimed so hard, that Becky had to laugh. "Lyrius isn't the boss of me. I make my own decisions! No, I think I'm just going to play it by ear for now. Lyrius seems to think we'll need help on this mission to take down Mister Monster, and from what I gather he and Mora have done this before. I'll see if I still feel like turning her in at the end of all this."

"Hmm...so you're not discounting the possibility that you might change your mind?" Becky deduced cynically.

"It's an extremely remote chance, but it's there," Judy admitted. "Let's just see. Aside from anything else, I'm being told she's a decent fighter, and that will probably be useful on a mission like this…" She shrugged. "Or, she'll stab me in the back as soon as I'm asleep, and I get to say to Lyrius, _I told you so_. I'm still not sure what sort of person I'm dealing with after ten years, and I don't want to judge anything too quickly…"

Becky clucked her tongue. "You're more forgiving than me darling. Alright, I guess I can keep mum on this for a while. Any trouble though, you call me, okay? Never mind your manflesh - I've had your back long before you even knew him."

A relieved sigh filled the phone speaker. "You're really okay with this?"

"Okay? No. Trusting your judgement? Yes. Also I'm a little flattered - rather than protect her as Lyrius has done, you choose to tell me outright."

"Bros before hoes, darling." Came the automatic reply. Becky snorted.

"Even when the hoe is the man you've been lusting after for the last six years?"

"Even then," Judy's voice was sincere. "You're my best friend, Becks."

"Aww I love you too!" Becky adopted her sappiest voice, to which Judy stuck out her tongue. Reaching for the remains of her gin and tonic, Becky took a sip, satisfied that there were no more bombshells to be dropped. "...so she's married?"

Judy made a funny half chortle in her throat. "Yup. And got two kids."

"Jesus. Mora with children," Becky gave a mock shudder. "That's a scary thought."

"If it makes it any better," Judy shrugged, kicking her legs against the wall. "She doesn't seem to be using her own mother as a role model for raising them."

"I should hope not! That woman was batshit crazy!" Leaning over to peer in through the kitchen door, Becky caught Sheeta's eye and waved her back in. "Lyrius didn't save her ass too, did he?"

"Don't think so," Judy admitted. "He hasn't mentioned it. I'll get the full story from him later. In the meantime, what do you have for me on leads for David? Sooner we wrap this up, the sooner I can come home unstabbed."

OOO

A stray lump of foam landed on Lyrius's arm, and he swiped it away swiftly, before returning his gaze through the kitchen window. In the small patch of grass that served as the back garden, Eli and Bright were trading practice blows and blocks, while Naya sat nearby, tapping her feet against the patio wall in a rhythm known only to her.

" _I will do it!" A girl with striking black eyes and ashen blonde hair, no more than ten, picked up herself up off the stone floor and wiped away the tear running down her cheek before raising the practice sword again. Despite the hit she had just taken and fresh tears in her eyes, the sword didn't waver. "I will defeat you!"_

" _You can." Lyrius raised his own practice sword. "Someday."_

" _No, it's now!" The girl leapt at him forcefully, their wooden weapons clashing strongly and she hammered away at his defenses endlessly. But his own weapon was always in the way and her frustration mounted with every second until with a_ _n_ _angry cry, her weapon ignited and she sheared through his like it was paper...  
_

"They're learning," a familiar voice broke through his ruminations. Mora was leaning in the doorway between the kitchen and living room with a hint of a smile on her face. "Not as fast as they did back in your day, I'm sure, but they're learning."

The ancient man turned to face her properly, not at all abashed to have been caught staring at her family. "I thought you were doing admin."

"And I thought you were washing my dishes," Mora returned, nodding at the sink. "But unless you've learned to burn sauce off a pan with the power of your stare, I don't see that happening."

Dropping the next dish into the soapy water in a pointed manner, Lyrius continued to scrub. "My thanks for cooking you and your husband dinner is being put on chores. You know, there are these things that you can buy called dishwashers. Marvellous invention…"

"And expensive to install and run," Mora pointed out. "Money doesn't grow on trees, Lyrius."

A silence settled into the room, neither awkward or completely at ease, and Lyrius had a feeling that he was going to have to be the one to break it. If ten years had taught him nothing else, it had taught him that Mora was rarely comfortable going first.

"I am sorry." Lyrius found the words paltry almost immediately and a plate cracked slightly as he tightened his grip on it. "For causing you distress. I...do not know what else to say."

Two steps brought Mora to his side, and she carefully took the broken plate halves from his grasp, and tossed them into the bin.

"Well, I'm sorry I hit you," she offered. "Nothing else to say."

"You deserve an explanation." Lyrius said steadily. "I did not know of your history with Judy until recently. I did not consider it as much of a factor as I should have. I have seen you come far in ten years, Mora. I had hoped that you would not be outright hostile to Judy and simply treat her with the contempt you enjoy spreading to all things not your family, but are breathing your air."

A smile twitched at the drow's lips. "I can treat her with all the contempt in the world if it will make you feel better." Seeing the less than amused expression on his face, she sobered up. "Thank you for the apology, Lyrius. I'm glad you understand now. I know it's not always easy for an outsider to get…"

She trailed off, her eyes drawn to the garden again.

"The children indicated that you were taking your medication again," Lyrius said delicately. Mora's eyes snapped back to him instantly, defensive, and then exasperated.

"Sneaky buggers," she muttered to herself. Seeing the penetrating stare, she sighed. "I'm okay. It comes and goes." She gave what was presumably meant to be a careless shrug, but simply came off stiff. "You know what the doctor said - it never goes away completely."

"If you would rather stay at home-"

"Fuck off!" a laugh barked through the kitchen. "Miss a chance to legitimately stab someone who deserves it? You're having a laugh!"

"The last time I laughed, you nearly stabbed me."

"Sounded like you were torturing an owl," came the quickfire response. "Creepy as all get out, and that's me talking. Almost did it earlier actually - you were smiling a lot today. Scared the hell out of me and Bright."

"I shall restrain my joy for the future of your sanity, then."

"Good." Allowing her eyes to return to the garden, a scowl materialised on Mora's brow as she caught sight of Judy sitting unobtrusively on the patio, watching Naya switch places with Eli. "Why are you even with her, anyway?"

"She makes my heart smile."

Mora gave him the flattest look imaginable. "If it wasn't you, I'd call that the sappiest line in the history of ever. And it doesn't really answer my question. She's not your usual kind of pick-up."

Lyrius lifted an eyebrow at her. "How so?"

"You tend to go for dark, tragic, in-need-of-rescue individuals. Me. That reincarnation of your enemy. The ex-Pro and gambler…hell even that cursed bastard sword had a spirit in it that needed saving." Mora leaned forwards curiously. "And now that I think about it, all the of the strays you take in tend to be rather gorgeous women. Are you a manslut, Lyrius?"

"I believe I would only qualify for that description if I actually slept with them. And I have not. Nor do I have any real desire to build a harem." Lyrius tilted his head slightly. "To answer your question with another, why Bright?"

Mora glanced over to where her husband and daughter were moving through their _katas_ , little Naya determinedly matching Bright's motions. The drow felt a warmth suffuse her and she smirked a little. "Touche." She shook her head softly. "Well, colour me surprised. Never thought you'd feel that way about anyone but Iris."

"Love, I have found, is hardly anything we can make it happen. It simply is." Lyrius watched the little scene for a long moment. "You do not have to come with us. Bright is just as a capable."

"He's also the only one with an actual day job. And I might as well learn to tolerate the lizard if she's going to be your new girlfriend. If only for your sake." Mora sighed dramatically. "The sacrifices I make for my loved ones…"

"I shall be sure to reward you appropriately for your services." Lyrius informed her as he pulled his sunglasses off while the sun slowly set.

"You better. I have a summer holiday to fund. Two actually - we're already saving for Disneyland next year," Mora watched Lyrius watch her daughter. "...talk. What's bothering you?"

"Not a problem you need concern-" Lyrius broke off as Mora stepped in front of him and glowered. Her magma-colored eyes met his white ones without flinching.

"Try that again." Mora said firmly, but not unkindly. "We don't lie to each other in this family."

"...Naya reminds me of Persephone. They are much alike...shy, yet have hidden depths." Lyrius inclined his head to the practicing father-daughter pair, where Naya was easily keeping up with her father's quick, graceful motions.

"Maybe, but she doesn't have the heart of a fighter," Mora pointed out. "All she wants to do is dance." Her gaze drifted to her oldest child, who practiced on his own with a focused look on his face. "Eli on the other hand...well, I think he's been aware that the world is dangerous right from the beginning."

Lyrius's expression was calculating. "You still think he was aware of Lolth's presence before he was born?"

"It would explain a lot of things," Mora admitted. "Like his mortal fear of spiders. And his overprotective streak...although, that could have easily come from his father."

Her attention remained on her husband, and a genuine smile threatened to take over her face.

"I suppose it is not outside the realm of possibility," Lyrius admitted. "Perhaps when Eli is older, you will send him to me for training."

"What Eli does in the future will be his choice," Mora said firmly. "I will not be sending him anywhere. If he wants to train with you, he can. If he wants to go to university, he can. If he wants to follow Eilistraee, he can. It is a poor parent who does not let their children fly where they will."

Lyrius did not appear to be listening, his thoughts having wandered somewhere back to the past again. Mora frowned at him a moment more, and then gave him a gentle kick to the back of the leg to bring him round again. "You still haven't found any clues?"

"None. The enemy that took her still exists, but they were defeated in Neo Domino while I was still recovering from the tournament on Arcadia. A thousand years of time can erode even a mountain, so I know there is nothing physical left for me to find." Lyrius' hand tightened slowly and the ends of his hair shifted in a non-existent breeze. "I will pay a visit to their netherword, then and-"

"No." Mora put her hand over his without looking. "Revenge will leave you in a bad way forever and you're going to make a lot of people sad if that happens. You and I...are too much alike for that not to be true." She caught him out of the corner of her eye. "And I won't forgive you if you make my kids cry like that."

"...yes, you are right." Lyrius' posture relaxed some and to his surprise, found himself enveloped in a brief hug by the drow.

"That's for actually having some feelings for once." Mora said teasingly as she released him quickly. "Now go say goodbye to my kids, and take your pet lizard to a hotel. She's starting to look bored, and I won't have her poking around my flowerbeds - she might find the bodies."

OOO

Judy could be as patient as needed in most situations, but there was only so much silence she could take. The taxi to the city center had been quiet, with Lyrius lost somewhere in his own mind, while she took to staring out of the window and counting the number of pubs. The silence continued as Lyrius checked them into a hotel and caused a fair amount of confusion with the front of house, by taking the most expensive room, and possessing no luggage to speak of.

Finally, the half dragon gave up, and rounded on him as the doors of the elevator closed behind them.

"Alright, I've been nice all afternoon. Will you please explain how your network of contacts extends to include people like Mora?"

"There are people that have slipped through the cracks, that the world has forgotten. Their lives spiral down into darkness, whether through it is their own fault or from circumstances outside their control. Their potential is wasted. I have suffered the same and was given a second chance on the whims of a stranger." Lyrius removed his sunglasses, carefully folding them up and placing in his shirt pocket. "I cannot ignore the opportunity to give the same chance to others."

"Right…" folding her arms, Judy could not help but notice that he had somewhat dodged the question, but she allowed it. "And how big is this network of yours? And how impossible? Am I going to run into an illithid or something just as unpleasant that you've managed to save and turn from the path of evil?"

"No. I have come to learn that the amount of ego such things possess and that of my companions is rather volatile. I have paid for more than enough property damage. My actual group of active companions is less than ten."

"...companions?" Judy tilted her head. "Becky was wrong - you're not Batman or the Opera Ghost. You're the Doctor."

"Doctor who?" Lyrius' brow furrowed slightly.

"Exactly."

"...I see." Lyrius clearly did not, but continued on. "Much of what I and my companions are capable of is because of the same reason the Shadowchasers are a continued presence - wealth and connections enable us do our job without upsetting the wrong people. Or eliminating them. We are not Shadowchasers, however, nor are we assassins or mercenaries. Our work is up to our discretion and we are people who try to leave the world a better place than when we arrived."

Judy tried to picture Mora making the world a better place, but her imagination failed her.

"Do not let the inclusion of a one time enemy sway you," Lyrius read the expression on her face too well. "Just because we do good does not require we be nice about it. Or do so by savory means. The Shadowchasers employ everything from blackmail and bribes to Rayearth. Mora is no different."

"...we only issue bribes and blackmail in certain countries..." Judy muttered and huffed. "But alright. I trust your judgement on this, then. You've known her longer than I have. But...if she gives me a reason to arrest her, I will. The same for you. The kind of things we can get away with are dangerous and if you cross that line, I won't stand for it."

"Noted." Lyrius took her hand in his. "I expect nothing less from my _sevetti_." He kissed her long and soft, his free hand sliding up her stomach slowly. "And I would not trust my heart to someone so weak as to not follow through on their duties…"

"Mmm...speaking of following through," Judy glanced over his shoulder where the door of the elevator was patiently waiting open to allow them to get to their room. "Are we finally going to finish what we started earlier?"

"We are. And then we are going to repeat the process thoroughly." Lyrius' hand slid up over her chest, his other one tangling in her hair. "Many times, until you are satisfied with the results."

"Sounds like a plan to me…"

OOO

Stretching languidly against the mattress, Mora rolled over and checked the small round alarm clock on the bedside table. The glow-in-the-dark stickers on the arms no longer worked after so many years, but she was a drow and did not need light to see. Their family had lost their nocturnal habits with the arrival of the babies, and they had never got them back again, relying on the heating and cooling of the house to keep their bodies in a stable rhythm of sleeping and waking. It was almost midnight...less than nine hours before she would have to kiss her family goodbye and possibly head off into danger.

Fighting off a shiver, she tucked the duvet close around her body, and felt her husband's arms slide around her waist from behind. With a sigh, she leaned back into the curve of his body, not caring that they were both sweaty from their passionate workout. A cool nose found her damp hair and soft kisses dotted along the top of her spine. He touched her with reverence, as though she were a priceless jewel, and a warm, comfortable feeling settled in her chest.

The first time they had sex, it had been quick and desperate. They had both been flirting with trouble, and breaking the rules had been just as heady as touching each other. The second time, she had been feeling weak and powerless, and he had been angry on her behalf. He had coaxed the fight back into her, taking away her pain in more ways than one. Every instinct she had been raised with had told her to scorn him for daring to bring emotions into sex. But instead she had found herself craving it, and worse still, feeling grateful to him for making her feel better.

Now she found it impossible to picture being with him without the emotions attached. Their race was built off not trusting anyone, and never showing your feelings. But every time she felt his hands on her body, her feelings came pouring out. And she felt every one of his in return.

It was the reason she had fallen in love with him.

Tonight, she pressed back against him, feeling his heartbeat against her spine, needing the strength that he provided.

"Should have known it wouldn't last…"

The kisses shifted to behind her ear, his breath sending a shiver down her neck.

"Being found out?" he asked. She nodded, letting her eyes slide closed heavily, and releasing her anxiety into the air.

"We've been lucky…" she whispered. "So lucky. Ten years and...nothing. Now…"

"I know," he muttered. "And of all people to discover us…"

She grunted in her throat, agreeing wholeheartedly. Fate had a curious sense of humour sometimes. Any other Shadowchaser they might have stood a chance of passing under the radar, but not Judy LaBaron.

"Dragons are stubborn," anxiety began to claw at her mind. "She isn't going to let this go."

Let _me_ go was what she really meant. The implications of having to answer for her crimes ten years ago made sickness roll away in her stomach. Her home was her safe zone - some days, the only way she could function was by reminding herself that it was there, and she could always run back to it. If she had to leave it - either by arrest or running - she would lose that, and ten years of trying to piece her mind back together would be for nothing. The thought terrified her.

A hand slid over her belly and stroked gently at her bare skin. Bright's head nestled in the crook of her neck, his breath ghosting over her collar in a gentle whisper. She knew he shared every one of her concerns. Not only for her, but for their whole family. They were happy in their little terrace - their first real home, after over a century of living in the darkness. The children were both comfortably settled in school. Bright enjoyed his work in the city center as head security at one of the nightclubs. Even Mora had formed a few tentative friendships. Ten years ago she would have happily discarded all of these, without a second thought. But now, merely entertaining losing everything that they had struggled for in the last decade, threatened to spill tears.

The hand at her belly slowed.

"Mora…" his breath hitched slightly over her name, and she rolled to face him. Even after ten years, he still fought the urge to address her as 'my lady', and she slid one hand into his, lacing their fingers together.

"Yes?"

He seemed to consider his words, before carefully beginning. "You seem to be assuming that everyone is as vindictive as you. Judy LaBaron does not strike me as that sort of person, though. She is fundamentally one of the good guys, and revenge is not the style of a good guy."

No offence was taken - Mora knew she was vindictive. The trait was bred into her. And Bright was probably right about this.

"Dragon's have very long memories. Judy still sees you as you were back then - that much is obvious from her behaviour. That is the source of her dislike. You will need to change that memory - make her see that you are not the same person you were ten years ago."

She gave him an incredulous look. "You want me to be friends with her?" propping herself up on her elbows she folded her arms, and gave him a disdainful look. He snorted.

"Don't be absurd." They both shared a chuckle at the thought, before he continued. "You don't need to be friends. Just...make her understand. She won't do anything until after this mission. That is plenty of time for you to convince her that the past is behind you both, and that it is in everyone's interests for you to remain free."

Mora's gaze dropped to his chest as she contemplated this. The idea of being friendly with Judy LaBaron made her feel all sorts of queasy, and she had no desire to share any of her difficulties - which were highly personal - with someone she considered an enemy. But what Bright said made a lot of sense. If the Shadowchaser could be convinced to have even the slightest bit of sympathy for her, it might go a long way.

The thought of uprooting her children, her husband, and herself tormented her again, and she sighed heavily.

"You have a point," she admitted, rolling onto her back, and staring at the ceiling pensively. "I'll see what I can do. For all of us."

A smile flitted across Bright's lips. Propping himself up over her, he cupped her face in both hands, and kissed her softly again. Pride, tenderness and love filled her, and her hands wandered down the familiar contours of his chest, warmth tingling all over her limbs once more.

Mischief danced in his eyes as they broke apart. "Again?"

"I've got a very long day tomorrow," she said earnestly, kissing along his jaw as he slid his weight over her body. "I need something good to get me through it."

Hands slid over her skin, and laughter teased at her ears. "Whatever my wife desires."

"Sensible man…"


	3. 50 Shades of Truth

Setting Shadows  
By 7th Librarian, Mei1105 and Scarletweather

Chapter 3: 50 Shades Of Truth

Judy awoke to a wall of black and wondered for a moment who had turned out the lights.

Only when she noticed that the wall of black was soft did she realize it was because she had buried her face in Lyrius' hair.

"Mmm...sleepy Lyrius. The best kind."

"I do not require sleep."

"Shh...let me dream." Judy squeezed her arms tighter around him and drew him closer, nosing his hair some more. "Mmm...soft. And fluffy."

"Thank you." Lyrius started to move, obviously intending to rise and was halted as Judy made a pouting noise. "I need to get up, Judy."

"No you don't," she shook her head. "We don't have to be anywhere until Mora and Bright have a lead on where David spent his money and why. We can spend the whole day in bed...it'll be just like my birthday again."

"I would rather not have to pay for another broken hotel room."

"Okay, not _just_ like my birthday." Judy admitted and rolled him over for a peck on the lips. "But still. Now that I have you, I have a lot of things I want to try out…"

"And we shall have an eternity to with which to attempt them, _sevetti._ However, work beckons. I have a contact to meet today." Lyrius kissed her softly and slid himself free of her arms.

"Oh, well why didn't you say so?" Whipping the covers off, Judy rolled off the mattress, and began hunting for her clothes.

"You need not come." Lyrius had slid out of bed and was pulling on his clothes. "Take the opportunity to rest and relax."

Folding her arms over her chest, the half dragon scrutinised him. "...I'm well rested, as you saw last night. And there is nothing pressing to do until we get a lead from a certain crazy drow." Her eyes narrowed. "What are you trying to hide from me, mister?"

"Nothing. This contact simply likes to meet in person and prefers them to be one-on-one. He is also an information broker for both the Mundane and the Shadowkind and acquiring that information is not something that is above board." Lyrius explain patiently.

"Well now I'm definitely going with you," Judy stated, retrieving her shirt from the doorknob of the bathroom.

"I am not going to be able to persuade you otherwise." Lyrius pulled on his own shirt. "I have learned, through many lifetimes, that some subjects are non-negotiable when it comes to one's mate."

"Good." Finishing with the buttons, Judy beamed. "So who is this contact?"

"Some things should remain a mystery, _sevetti."_

TTTTTT

" _Heaven, please sing for me a song of life/Heaven please take me into your skies/There's no place here to hide my cries/Night and day I'm missing you (ooh)"_

Lyrius ignored the looks of the other bus passengers were giving him as the anime song blazed out of his phone, pulling the device from his pocket and glancing at the screen. Judy, for her part, merely gave him a long exasperated look, before returning her gaze to her own phone as though nothing odd had happened.

Lyrius' lips quirked a little at the caller's identity and he answered with a deft swipe of his thumb. "Ellen. I do not recall assigning you that ringtone."

" _I built the indestructible phone, of course I leave a backdoor to mess with your music."_ A female voice drawled from the other end. " _Also, the fact you listen to Fall Out Boy makes me sad. So I added some new music that will give you some culture."_

"I will be sure to listen to it never."

" _You listen to everything at least once."_ The voice gained an undercurrent of smugness. _"I checked. Interesting that the show tunes from that little show about ponies have hundreds of listens."_

"I enjoy music that is catchy." Lyrius said with something akin to fond politeness. "What news do you have to report?"

" _Well, the stock market fell about eight points this morning and-"_

"Ellen."

" _You asked."_ Ellen was clearly snickering. " _As it stands, Sir Broodington, I've finished the keychain for Transient Heart."_

" _It'll work, Lyrius. I do not make anything that doesn't."_ Ellen insisted into the silence.

"I do not doubt that they will, I merely am concerned that you will require me to get them in person again."

" _So?"_

"I remember the gunblade incident."

" _I charge you reasonable prices, Lyrius. And since I'm one of those 'friend' things you desperately need, I even put yours on the top of my list when you need something. I think helping me test new things is hardly an inconvenience!"_

"When the gauge for the test is 'which language we get Lyrius to curse in', I do feel some concern for my wellbeing." Lyrius said mildly.

" _Well, you'll have to come get them in person, anyway. One of the apprentices' golems went a bit haywire and now I have a sunroof. As in the 'no roof' kind. So I haven't got anyone to deliver them."_

"Very well. I shall arrive within the week, once my current investigation is concluded. If it will be longer, I will call you."

" _Good. And bring your horse next time. Her armor's about done, too."_

"And Mora's new gear?"

" _Done in my sleep."_ A pause. _"I think literally. Kind of a long day yesterday...or today. Sleep happened sometime in the last twenty-four hours, anyway."_

"Excellent. Thank you, Ellen."

" _So! Work aside, rumor is that you have a new beau!"_ Ellen's voice took on a curious eager tone. " _Who is it? Why them? And do they need any weapons?"_

"Goodbye, Ellen."

" _You can't hang up on me, I built the phone. I-"_

Lyrius shut the phone off.

A moment later, it turned itself on and 'Crazy Frog.' began to blare at top volume. And Lyrius desperately wished that his indestructible phone did not have an eternal battery and thus, nothing to remove.

TTTTTTT

"One hunters chicken with chips, and one double cheeseburger and croquettes." The waiter set the meal and drink on the table. "Sir, we do have an adult menu."

"It is what I enjoy." Lyrius helped himself to cutlery with no acknowledgement of the strangeness of his order. "Please give my regards to Mister Wrallon."

"Whatever you say, sir." The waiter shrugged and left her odd customers in their booth to attend to a rowdy group of college students who were shouting at a football match on the television and spilling most of their beers instead of drinking them.

 _The Royal Hound_ as a stereotypical pub - wooden, cosy, dimly lit corners, two old men playing cribbage, and televisions stuck permanently on Sky Sports. Though it tended to be a comfortable local, until recently, it had been home to far seedier elements - gamblers, loan sharks and men who trafficked in things that gave one an 'edge'. Surprisingly, one of these things had been cards related to the magical stone Orichalcos and other false Duel Monsters cards.

It had been lucrative, until Lyrius had been tracing the ring's leaders and in the process, discovered that the seller here had been keeping his cover by blackmailing the pub's landlord to lie to authorities via threatening to seal his young son into an Orichalcos card. At that point, Lyrius and his erstwhile ally at the time had delivered to the seller his own punishment. The grateful landlord insisted that Lyrius eat whatever he wanted for free as long as he wanted.

Lyrius drowned his meal in ketchup and speared a forkful as he eyed the door across the room, awaiting the arrival of his contact.

"...you missed one," Judy helpfully nudged one of the crispy potatoes that had escaped the smothering. Her companion blinked at her in puzzlement, and she huffed. "That door isn't going to explode if you take your eyes off it for a moment. We're not meeting the antichrist…" her eyes narrowed. "...are we?"

"I have not insulted a major deity recently, so no, we are not." Lyrius looked frustrated for a moment. "They keep trying to recruit me and then find it surprising to have my weapon impaled upon their skulls…"

"...do you and the Librarian keep score or something?" Judy asked. "Who can piss off the most superpower beings in a week?"

"I do not do it intentionally. It happens as a matter of course. As for the Librarian, I think his wife beats both of our totals." Lyrius said pointedly. "Telling a god 'I don't believe in you' to their faces leaves them quit insulted."

"I feel I should be taking notes," Judy cut up her chicken and sent it for a ride around the plate.

"I had not requested that you bring others into this meeting, but I suppose that relying on your discretion was a mistake on my part, Lyrius Stormcloud."

There was a clatter as Judy's fork hit the table, her throat closing around her chicken. Lyrius's fork paused halfway to his mouth for about a half-second before he neatly took a bite, then daintily wiped away excess ketchup from his mouth with a napkin. "It is a truth of this world that it is sometimes better to ask forgiveness than beg permission."

The man who sat down was tall, taller even than Lyrius. His eyes were hidden behind a thick pair of blackout shades, and his hair had been styled into short, black spikes. Between that and the skintight black leather he wore all along his body, it would've been easy to mistake this man for some kind of street thug. He adjusted the heavy shades and shook his head. "Not in any line of work which requires trust. Although a traitor to country, queen, god, and self keeping faith with an informant seems an unrealistic expectation in retrospect."

He slid into the booth across from Judy and Lyrius, not waiting for permission. "Ms. Steelheart. I request that you avoid interrupting this meeting by attempting to assault me. This body is only one of many proxies, but I would hate to lose it on such frivolity."

"Oh believe me, Trueman," Judy found her driest voice. "It wasn't you I was thinking of assaulting."

She swivelled her head to glare pointedly at Lyrius.

Lyrius simply took another bite of food, unaffected in the slightest. "I said you did not have to come."

"Oh yes, it's my fault your contact happens to be a wanted psychopath," Judy snapped. "Your argument is irrelevant."

She speared her chicken forcefully, indicating that the argument was far from over.

"If you desire food, Trueman, I will foot the bill." Lyrius offered politely, even as Judy gave him a glower.

"That won't be necessary." Trueman folded his hands on the table. "By all means, continue your lunch. I would hate to interrupt your strange, empty pleasures for the sake of business."

Lyrius seemed disappointed. "You cannot continue lying to yourself, Trueman. You know as well as I do that whatever you were in the past, you are simply a human using particularly bizarre forms of magic now. You will need to eat eventually."

"I am eating. Several miles away, another 'me' is eating a balanced, healthy meal in order to sustain this body's organic functions. Two others are accomplishing the recommended target goals of daily exercise. Another is hydrating me." Trueman allowed himself the smallest of smiles. "Boring work that distracts from the pursuit of truth is best left to proxies."

"...I'm going to regret asking this," Judy drawled. "But how many proxies are achieving the recommended daily allowance of masturbation?"

"That information requires payment up front." Trueman gave the lightest hint of a smirk. "It is, after all, highly personal in nature and difficult to acquire and divulge."

Lyrius paused between bites for a long second, then apparently decided the conversation wasn't worth his time and went back to cutting up his burger.

"I will take that as an admission that you are unwilling to pay for such information. A wise choice. Some things are best left unsaid." Trueman shifted his attention. "Now, as to the real reason you called me here? Bear in mind that I may choose to increase my usual fee in light of the number of attendants at this gathering."

"Has your pursuit of truth crossed the paths with Mister Monster as of late?" Lyrius wanted to know, resuming eating his own meal carefully.

"A straightforward question. If you wish for an answer, the fee will either be a trade for information you possess that I judge an equal value or higher, or you will pay me - up front, in cash - a sum I designate as being equal in value to this information." Trueman leaned forward, tenting his hands together. "Are we in agreement?"

"What information could I posses that you would want, truth seeker?" Lyrius' eyebrow lifted elegantly above his sunglasses. "Our previous encounters have already determined that my truth is just that - mine. Altogether too fluid for you."

"You possess no 'Truth'." Trueman's voice grated with an intensity that seemed far more aggressive than his situation called for. "You disgust me with how close you came to the one Truth that governs all, and how soon you rejected it in favor of petty daydreams. I will forever resent Yuki Judai for staving off the world's acceptance of Truth, but at least he lived according to his own truth, his own path. You rejected every path which presented itself to you." The intensity in his voice faded. "...but all the same, you are a valuable liar. If you cannot offer me information, then dig into those deep pockets of yours and hand me what I desire. Otherwise, this conversation has no further value to me."

Judy's head swivelled back and forth between the two. "You have _got_ be kidding me? How long has this little boys and psychopaths only club of yours been going on for?"

"Longer than he will admit to you," Trueman replied. "But that is neither here nor there. Do you have anything to offer me as a trade for my information?"

"A moment, then, to gather my thoughts." Lyrius took the time to start carving his burger apart with his knife and fork.

"Take your time. I have already begun a meeting with my next client."

Sensing that she did not want to break the awkward silence that now descended, Judy went back to her chicken. After halfway through the meal, Lyrius finally seemed to pick up on the ever-growing impatient scowl on Trueman's face. "Your usual fees are acceptable."

He produced a large stack of bills and set them on the counter, pushing it towards Trueman. "A down payment. It will take at least half a day to gather remaining funds in cash."

"It is unlike you to come unprepared, so partial payment will result in partial information." Trueman's hand slid over the stack of bills and it vanished into the darkness of his being. He folded his hands again. "The one you are seeking is not Monster himself, but something he himself sees as monster in his own eyes."

Lyrius pondered this for a moment. "An aberration. A piece of himself became a whole self on its own. But how? And where?"

"More answers require more payments." Trueman spread his hands a bit. "And if you have failed to bring anymore notes or coinage, information is the only form of it left..."

Lyrius swallowed the last of his burger and set his fork down.. "Ask, then. I will provide."

"Tell me, Lyrius Stormcloud. What is the maximum distance at which you can sense an approaching threat?"

Lyrius's brow tightened as he narrowed his eyes at Trueman. "You brought something along that is not 'you'..."

Across the table, Judy slid her knife into her lap, ready to jam it into Trueman's thigh at the first opportunity, her eyes scanning the tables around them.

"Not as such. The information I am about to provide to you in exchange for what you inadvertently shared with me just now is twofold. First, the man you are looking for prefer to call himself - itself - herself - Menagerie. If you wish to discover the Truth of this existence, you will need to grapple with their creations. Those should tell you everything you require. Chasing Monster himself is a fool's errand. Additionally, an enemy approaching from at least three hundred meters, vertically, can absolutely avoid detection when your guard is not up. By now that information has been relayed to Menagerie, in exchange for my fee. This is the last interaction we will have as client and provider, Lyrius Stormcloud."

Halfway through Trueman's last syllable, the ceiling exploded, promptly followed by the booth in flash of light and then the pub's front door.

At least, to the few other patrons who managed not to blink, that's what it seemed like to happen in the span of five seconds.

In those five seconds, the ceiling collapsed as a figure crashed through it and smashed down on the table. The flash of light was Lyrius' weapon appearing in his hand, while Judy pulled her sword free while sliding free of the booth. The blade flashed through the air, slicing through Trueman's face like it was butter. But the information broker simply broke apart into shadows and the booth beneath him suffered irreparable damage as Judy's swing nearly cleaved it in two. At the same time, Lyrius flipped his unfinished plate of food into the new attacker's face.

The second it bought him to get raise his new weapon on guard wasn't enough as the figure went from standing to a dead on in the space of two footsteps and bodychecked him out the door.

Across the street from the pub, a car suddenly gained a new occupant as Lyrius was slammed bodily into it so forcefully it bent around him. But impacts could be tolerated and left the attacker vulnerable, as a knife dropped from Lyrius' sleeve, into his hand and from his hand, driven into the neck of his assailant.

"Allow me to introduce you. This is the weapon I was given disposal of to deal with you."

Lyrius craned his neck, seeing Trueman within the driver's seat of the crumpled car. The new body gestured to the street, where Lyrius's assailant had staggered backward. "This is Kastleneid. She's-"

Lyrius pulled himself out of the car. "Mind the airbags."

Trueman's further conversation was cut off as two air-filled cushions promptly deployed themselves directly into his face. Nearby, a second Trueman standing among the crowd shook his head and sighed. "Pathetic."

Lyrius glared balefully at him. The proxy laughed. "Shouldn't you keep your attention on your opponent? Kastleneid, your final orders."

From behind Lyrius, he heard a small, surprisingly high voice. "Yes."

"You are to rampage until nothing is left of the being known as Lyrius Stormcloud but a bloody husk. Ignore all prior directives to conceal abilities or avoid damaging the environment or bystanders. Once this task is complete, dispose of yours-"

Trueman's final words were cut off as Judy's sword tore through his skull from the back, but he promptly fell apart into wisps of shadows.

The figure behind Lyrius took a deep breath. "Orders, Acknowledged."

Judy spared Lyrius a quick glance, before taking off across the road, where Trueman was already reforming.

Lyrius felt a chill.

Something erupted at his feet, but he had already left the spot and flipped away, twisting in the air to slash a pair of projectiles into pieces as he did so. They landed at the same time he did, making an almost musical tinkling noise as they hit the cement and promptly melted into water. "...ice."

"Correct."

Lyrius took stock of his enemy for the first time. She was young, younger than he had been expecting. Perhaps not even out of her late teens. Her clothing seemed designed for function over form. The light blue material clung to the skin around her arms and legs like a full-body swimsuit, but he could see the faint hints of padded armor around her chest and trunk. A fighter who prized maneuverability, then. Her skin had a faint blue tinge - no. He looked closer and saw it. As close as it looked to human skin, that was an array of scales almost too small to be picked out by the naked eye. Whatever she was, she was not a human, nor was she a reptilian species. It wouldn't mix well with ice magic. Her hair was white, cut to near-shoulder length, and tending towards silver. It was as if she'd experienced a shock at some point which had robbed it of all color.

"You are a chimera of some sort," Lyrius hazarded. "A creation of 'Menagerie'."

The attacker lifted her hand and magic began to coalesce around it. "Also correct."

Lyrius's right hand moved quickly, tossing a small device into the air. A column of ice erupted from the girl's outstretched hand and impacted it. He brought up his arms to guard himself as the device exploded, sending shards of powdered ice flying in every direction.

Kastleneid was fast, flying through the debris at angle to put herself behind him even as ice coalesced into a sword in one hand. Their weapons connected as he blocked and Lyrius found himself reeling a couple of steps from the force.

Then she was on him, circling and raining blows at him from every direction. Lyrius registered that she was generating ice under her feet and skating on it with nothing but her boots with masterful ease only dimly, most of his mind occupied by parrying her blows. Ice was rapidly coating the ground underneath him and retreats were cut off as ice walls and spikes erupted from the ground at her whim.

Finally, he felt his back press into the tip of one of the spikes and he stopped, a forceful counterattack shoving Kastleneid back along the ice by a dozen yards...and into her own wall. "A cage."

"Correct. You have been shown to be highly mobile in battle, both in terms of speed and reaction time. Moreover, you make excellent use of your environment for offense and defensive purposes. Lastly, your overwhelming strength enables to power through barriers and obstacles that would slow others." Kastleneid gestured to the impromptu arena around them. "This ice has removed all of that from you."

Lyrius slammed a foot on the ground. The ice cracked, but didn't shatter and then promptly returned to its original state.

His weapon slashed along one of the walls and the same thing happened.

Spikes erupted, sending him twisting away. But then Kastleneid was there, slashing him. There was no traction on the ice and his block cost him his footing, her follow-up blows hammering across his body before she pirouetted and slammed a kick into his face so hard he smashed into one of the walls.

It immediately reformed, icing over his limbs so tightly there wasn't any room for movement. His weapon suffered a similar fate, its black form looking like a blot upon the pure blue-whiteness of the ice.

"Your clothing is magical." Kastleneid spoke as if she was confirming something she already knew. "I cannot cut you with an ice blade."

A dagger-like shape appeared in her free hand and she whipped it Lyrius. It collided with his neck and bounced off, shattering on the ground. "Or pierce you."

The glow of her magic reformed around her sword, morphing into a massive dragon-shaped gauntlet that covered her entire forearm. "Then crushing damage will be your end."

With a single push against the ice, she started towards him and built up speed with every following one. "I expected more."

She drew her fist back...and punched through the ice.

OOO

A car screeched to a halt and blared its horn as the figure ran out in front of it. "Watch where you're fucking going!" the driver yelled in a thick glaswegian accent.

Judy did not bother acknowledging him, or the mess she had made of the traffic, instead sliding over the hood of the next car and darting down the side street where Trueman had fled.

"Why do you pursue what you know cannot be caught?" Trueman's voice called after her, faintly bubbling over the heads of bystanders. "After all, I am here."

Years of training allowed Judy to sense the sudden shift in mass near her body and drop into a roll, quickly moving out of a potential danger zone. Trueman's voice echoed. "But I am also here."

"Stubbornness. And I generally dislike people like you," Judy spat in response, pulling herself out of her roll and into a defensive stance. Even as she considered her options, she began to consider the ramifications of exactly what she had just done. Trueman was a dangerous opponent to face alone. He wasn't particularly strong that she had heard of - certainly not stronger than her - but even without the possibility of his dropping some kind of dark magic trap out of nowhere, the mere fact that he could simply exist in multiple bodies at once was terrifying on some level. There was no effective way to guard all your blind spots from an opponent who could simply choose exactly where to _exist_ next.

"You chase at shadows and lunge into dark places for the sake of those you would do better to abandon." Trueman kept his distance, his expression and posture both neutral. "Your convictions are at least more solid than those of the ghost you keep company with. I say this for your own good, Judy LaBaron - abandon this quest. There is nothing for you at its end except the blood-red truth that you will lose everything and gain nothing from this man."

Judy's body seemed to tremble a bit. Her stance relaxed, for only a fraction of a second.

Then he was there, in her blind spot. No human could possibly react in time. Some kind of weapon was in his right hand, and it came hurtling towards her-

Trueman uttered a shocked "-gack" as Judy's right fist caught him in the chin and sent him rising over a meter into the air before he crashed to the ground, stunned and senseless.

Walking over to her downed foe and careful to keep her eyes out for new bodies spawning in a surprise attack, Judy fixed him with the most severe glare she could muster. "First - your form is terrible. I've been learning to deal with fighting large groups since I was a kid, it's part of basic training. Second, when my father retires, I'm going to be the figurehead of the entire Shadowchasers organization. Why on earth would I think about what I'm going to _gain_ by helping someone?"

The body she had attacked twitched and dissolved into shadow, though she noticed with satisfaction that its jaw had been broken. Probably in multiple places. She hoped that wherever Trueman Prime was, if there was such an individual, he could somehow feel that pain.

Moments later, to her surprise, yet another Trueman body fell senseless to the ground beside her. It actually took her a moment to process that something was sticking out of his back- a long, well-polished black handle.

"Keep sharp, scale-brains," a familiar voice hissed. "He's seeded at least two more of those around here somewhere. I saw them in the crowd."

Judy whirled in surprise. "Mora?"

"In the flesh." The drow did not look at her, preferring instead to tug her knife clear of the body, and begin wiping it down.

"How did you find me?" Surprise was giving way to suspicion, which was only met with a sneer.

"How do you think? I followed the racket you two were making. Where is my idiotic landlord, anyway?"

A few streets away, something exploded, sending the ground trembling beneath their feet.

"...never mind." Sheathing her knife again, Mora jerked her head back toward Judy. "Well come on then. You _know_ he's hopeless without one of us."

"What are you going to do about the body in the street?"

"Leave it. If that rejected mess of leather and shades doesn't pick up his mess, I don't really have any interest in doing it for him. I already have kids!" Mora scowled, only to raise an eyebrow before flipping her grip on her knife into a throwing position. "Something I stabbed didn't stay dead. I don't know if that's annoying...or something I should get excited about."

Trueman didn't respond, his new body simply regarding the pair steadily.

"Okay, he's not talking, either." Mora took on a wary stance, another knife appearing in her free hand. "Lizard, you fight saturday morning cartoon villains. Don't they always monologue?"

"I don't usually let them keep standing long enough to notice," Judy replied, clenching her fists.

"Fair."Mora backed a little close to Judy as Trueman suddenly gained a doppleganger on the opposing side. "Has anyone _ever_ fought this guy in something besides a duel?"

"Why? Game too much for you?"

"I don't have my deck or my disk." Mora snapped. "Where's yours?"

"Fools rush in where angels fear to tread." One of the Trueman spoke up. "Your trust in that ghost is misplaced. To know he regularly meets with great danger, yet preferring to trust in his ability to protect over your own preparations. You blind yourselves willingly, to the truth and to your own weaknesses."

"That trust does not make you strong." The other Trueman continued. "He promises to keep your fears from you, but he in fact is their source. A poison you drink as if it were water in the desert."

He burst into wisps of shadow as another knife flew through the air and embedded itself between his eyes.

"This is the most boring job I've ever been on!" Mora declared. "Seriously, either piss off, or do something - don't just stand there yammering!"

"Are you afraid I might drown out the sound of your own voice, daughter dear?" A new voice spoke up, haughty and sneering. "You do think so highly of yourself, even now. Yet you know all you have is things that are given to you by others."

Another knife - this one straight in the throat - put an end to the shapeshifter's monologue.

"I said enough yammering!" Mora appeared unflustered. "I have her teeth sitting in a box on my fucking mantlepiece, so don't pull that shit with me!"

She turned to glare at her companion. "Don't just stand there - start chopping off heads!"

"Would you kill me, mum?" A smaller figure appeared where Maureen had been. "I've been touched by the Spider Queen." Eli's face twisted in a hard smile, revealing his right eye had been replaced by three smaller spider-like eyes. "I'm just like you."

Mora gaped, her hand frozen halfway to draw her knife back...only for a rush of silver to shove her aside and Eli's head was torn into black mist as a sword bit through him.

"Don't lose focus, Mora." Judy chastised. "He's just trying to mess with us."

Mora shook her head, as though trying to banish the image from her mind, and the focus seemed to come back to her eyes.

"And yet you fall for it." This new voice was regal, cold and rich. A tall woman emerged from the either, dressed entirely in black and her head adorned by a crown. "Trueman is a phantom, yet you waste time scrabbling to fight him. Nonsense noise and you listen like the gods were speaking to you!"

The ground shook again, followed by an explosion and Judy caught sight of fragments of ice flying into the air above the building line.

"You tell yourself you trust him to survive, but it is a lie." The woman stalked towards Judy. "The truth is that you are weak, that fear his enemies are too powerful for you to combat. And because your weakness, your truth is that you will leave him. You will die and leave him alone, a ghost of a man swallowed by the darkness at last."

Judy lunged, but her sword was stopped dead in the air as the woman caught the edge easily and used it to wrench the weapon down, reeling Judy in closer. "You are a child dreaming at adulthood and like all dreams, it will fade when you awaken. You bring that ghost no happiness, only an imitation of what he felt for someone who is far your superior. His hopes, his ideals will crumble into ash and dust and he cease being even the shell of a man he is.

The woman's silver-black eyes swirled like stormclouds as her gaze bore into Judy's. "And it will be, truthfully, your fault."

A knife burst out of her throat, spraying Judy in blood before she vanished.

"If that was an accurate portrayal, then Lyrius's wife was a _bitch_ ," Mora declared.

"That's what I've heard, honestly." Judy made a face. "That much blood from one wound? What is he even made of?"

"Faux leather, cheap sunglasses, and nasty words. Based on current observations, anyway." Tossing her hair, Mora glanced around the empty street, a disappointed frown on her face. "Oh...was that all of them?"

"No." Judy raised her weapon again as several more Trueman became visible. "But he gave a shooting gallery."

Pulling more knives from who knew where, Mora smirked. "Bet I can get more than you."

"What is this? Lord of the Rings?"

OOO

Kastleneid felt her fist punch through the ice...and nothing else. "What?"

"Your left."

Instinct kicked in and she lashed out in that direction, only to meet empty air. A foot slammed into her face from the right and she went tumbling end over end, before she caught her roll and sprang to her feet. A second gauntlet formed as she raised both arms defensively. "You teleported in your own shadow and distracted by me by throwing your voice."

"Explaining the obvious does not render any less so." Lyrius swept his weapon out and raised it front of him.

"I am merely acknowledging the additions to your list of known abilities." Kastleneid launched forwards at him again.

The small clearing filled with oddly musical ringing as her barrage of punches were deflected or swept aside the black blur that was his weapon. Linking her hands together, Kastleneid spun on the ice and smashed them into her target. His weapon got in the way, but the force threw him up in the air. She jumped, landing a powerful bicycle kick to Lyrius and smashing him into the ground.

He vanished into his shadow as she came down after him, fist actually punching through the thick layer of ice and cratering the cement below. The air hissed as his weapon came at in a flurry of black streaks, the individual motion of the blows lost to seemingly how many there were.

Hunks of flew as her gauntlet were rather brutally tore apart, a forehand-backhand slash shattering them completely and sending her skidding backwards. Ice sprang up in a wall in front of her as Kastleneid dug her heels to stop herself, but it promptly shattered as his weapon pierced through it and slammed into her stomach with enough force to pin her another car.

Lyrius gripped his weapon tightly as Kastleneid wheezed for breath...then jumped backwards as a sweep of her hand unleashed a small volley of icicles. "I am not able to cut you presently. Nor do you take much damage from pierces. In that, we seem to be equal."

"In defensive capabilities." Kastleneid flexed her hands and mist swirled around her hands to solidify into a pair of thick, serrated broad swords. "I posses the better weapon."

Lyrius merely raised his own expectantly...and whirled in a complete circle, his weapon slashing through the ice spikes that had shot out of the ground on his flanks to skewer him.

More spikes blasting up from the front forced him to leap backwards even as Kastleneid spring up their length, crossing her swords to slash them at his exposed neck.

Light flashed as his weapon jumped hands in time to catch the ice swords at their cross, Kastleneid smirking triumphantly. " _Check…"_

The ice swords suddenly doubled in length and she scissored them fiercely and the edges drove into his neck. At first, they didn't even sink into the skin, but then they gained serrations and she dug them even harder, a single drop of red leaking free.

Lyrius vanished, leaving Kastle to crash knee first into the ground. She felt him behind her, spun to both parry the slash she knew was coming and to drive one into his stomach...and was completely unprepared as his foot kicked through both weapons and sent her tumbling across the ice again.

Growling, she rightened and kicked forwards in the next instant, skidding in a low arc to take his back. An ice spear formed in her free hand and she burst into motion, drawing it back to hurl and skewer the small of his back. She could see his head turning, tracking her but it didn't matter. He couldn't react in time, she had already closed the distance between them. She could see it now, tightness of his face, the glint of white eyes underneath his shades…

Then she found herself leaping away, landing a defensive crouch with her spear in both hands tightly. "What...why did I retreat? I was about to kill you."

"You felt as if you yourself were the one who was about to do die." Lyrius' words weren't a question. "You were frightened."

"I don't have such a fear. I was created to perform a mission and I will do it. That is all I am." Kastleneid retorted icily and stood, her spear reforming into a serrated glaive that she twirled expertly before leveling it at him. "I have been given all of the information concerning you and I have been built to kill you. There is nothing to be afraid of."

"If you are not afraid of failing, you can never win." Lyrius caught her glaive as she came at him, her ice weapon a blur as she spun and rained blows combos at. None of them could get through the defensive wall that was his weapon.

She reeled as he parried a blow aimed to split his skull forcefully, gasping in pain he punched through her weapon and landed a blow on her throat enough force that she spit blood. But she still caught his wrist in a lock and twisted it ferociously, breaking his stance. Ice formed into spiked knuckle dusters and she backhanded him across the face as hard as she could.

A second set of knuckedusters and she was hammering away at him with every ounce of strength she had, the blows shoving him back inch by inch. Then his weapon came back into play and they shattered against the dark metal. Ice sprang from her wrists in points and she grinned sadistically as he caught her wrists.

"Check."

In the next moment, she was shoving them backwards across the icy street surface even as Lyrius' booted feet found no traction with which to push back.

A cold chill suffused the air and Lyrius felt one of the walls of ice move forward to meet his back, blocking his retreat. He was far too close to dodge the rapid rush of blows which aimed for his face and solar plexus, alternating between high and low and forcing him to shift his guard rapidly. Then, for one instant, his stance didn't change fast enough. The air shrieked as Kastleneid slammed both palms into his chest, ice erupting out from the contact like a rapidly blooming flower. It coated him, then the sound of shattering glass filled the area as it blew apart like a small bomb.

"Not yet."

Without waiting to see if her barrage had any effect, Kastleneid snapped her fingers. Two of the walls half-shattered, and large pieces launched themselves toward the point where she had last felt her fists connect with Lyrius. She saw him stagger as they proved too big to block and their momentum meant deflecting them had thrown him off his guard. Ice spread beneath his feet as she catapulted forwards, forming a two-handed zweihander and drawing back up over her head to, ready to bring it down with enough force to split his skull-

-Only to find her body freezing just as she closed the distance, something flashing in front of her vision for less than a second. She remained like that, frozen even as the debris faded to reveal Lyrius barely a yard in front of her. His weapon arm was crossed over his opposing shoulder, having looked like had just struck something.

"You were afraid again." His voice broke the silence like a sneeze interrupts a funeral. "Another step and you would have died."

Kastleneid felt something warm trickle down her face, along with a spreading ache that come from one corner of her brow to the opposite side of her chin.

And only when it dripped into her right eye did she realize it was her blood.

"My keyblade does not appear to have an edge, but it does have one." Lyrius held the weapon up lightly, revealing it to live up to its name. A long black key with the appearance of wrought-iron fencing warped and twisted together, its 'teeth' being the shape of a skeleton key. "Had you continued your blind charge for another step, that edge would have split you from jaw to crown."

He jumped back, putting some distance between and raising his keyblade defensively again even as Kastleneid dropped her zweihander and instead formed another set of gauntlets again. "You know that a frontal assault on me will yield no results, yet you persist. Blind faith in your orders. And in the belief that your creator told you were capable of accomplishing any task you were ordered."

"It is true!" Kastleneid launched forwards again, flinging punches as she came. Each punch launched a softball sized sphere of ice and at the rate she was moving and firing, there was almost no gap between any of them.

Lyrius vanished into his shadow against the barrage flew through the space he had been occupying and reappeared a few feet away. But Kastleneid spun on the ice with inhuman grace, changing her direction in less than an instant. A ice ball slammed into his face, followed by her fist and then she swept his feet out from under him. But he twisted on his fall, keyblade deflecting her two follow-up blows. He caught himself on his hand, using it to spring himself up and away.

He landed easily on a car, turning to slash several erupting ice spikes apart even as she took one great step over over the car's hood and drove her sword into his face.

It shattered as it connected, the ice fragmenting like cheap glass. "Your ice cannot pierce me."

His fist slamming into her gut and hurtled her backwards straight through the wave ice behind her. It shattered and blew apart before she hit the ground, a swift kick from him hurling up into a lampost like she was a soccer ball.

She jumped back to her feet and whirled to get a guard up, but there was nothing to block. He was still standing a safe distance away.

"Keh." Lyrius frowned slightly as a crack spread across one lense of his sunglasses and a few chips fell out. Reaching up, he pulled them off and glanced at them with frown. "Hardly as durable as the shopkeeper claimed…"

He dropped the eyewear even as Kastleneid charged for him again, ice forming around to hands to colasce into weapons. "Enough."

Lyrius raised his gaze to her and Kastleneid felt her body drag her to a halt instantly, her half-formed weapon crumbling apart as her mind lost the coherence necessary to give them shape. Malevolence and bloodthirst seethed in the air for a long moment his white eyes bored into her. "Attack me so foolishly again and you _will_ die."

"I...I am not afraid to die, as my death will ensure yours!" Kastleneid retorted, but there was more uncertainty in her voice than coldness.

"Your body knows otherwise." Lyrius pointed to her. "Your hand is shaking."

Kastleneid raised the hand to her face, staring at the offending limb like it was a foreign object. It was indeed shaking ever so slightly. Her magic formed around it, but simply became weak ice that fragmented off of her trembling fingers like snow. "This is...this is…"

"The gap between what you believe to be true and what you know actually is. You know your constructs cannot harm me, yet you believe that they can because you were told they could. You know I can hurt you, yet you believe our defensive capabilities to be equal because you were told they were."

"I can and they are." Kastleneid snapped the words, but they were filled with question. "I was built as a weapon!"

"Even a stick with a pointed branch can be called a weapon if one wields it with intent." Lyrius said calmly. "You are no weapon, Kastleneid. You are thinking too much."

"What I am thinking is…" Kastleneid clenched her fists and the trembling stopped. "This is...frustrating."

Ice exploded across the ground from her feet and she skated forwards at impossible speeds, her blows missing him as he jumped. He plucked one of the rubies from his earring and snapped it at the ground. It exploded on impact, shattering the ice in all directions and flooding the area with smoke.

There was a hard shrieking sound and then a car-sized boulder of ice came flying from the smoke. Lyrius slashed it in half, raising his weapon as the pieces flew to either side of him in order to block the attack that would be coming in the moments his vision was blocked.

Icy breath on his neck was his only warning that Kastleneid had _ridden_ the boulder past him.

She sank her hands into his hair, smashing him into the other half of the boulder. Ice erupted to seal him even as he teleported into her shadow, leaving him standing atop her ride. A single slash carved it apart and she and the hunks were hurtled into the ground.

Lyrius landed easily even as she rose from the wreckage, shrugging off scraps of ice. "Better."

Kaslteneid slapped a hand on the ground, a fresh layer of ice spreading forwards and erupting into spikes that forced to Lyrius to leap backwards...even as a second wave of ice catapulted her forwards into him.

One hand seized his keyblade, flash-freezing both of their limbs to as the other hand found his throat. He faded from her grasp, a kick from behind sending her reeling. Then he was in front of her again, his weapon flashing back to his hand even as he swung to cleave her in two at the waist.

There was a crunch.

Kastleneid held her hand at her side. Ice had grown around her ankles and feet, anchoring her body to the ground. She had moved her left arm out of the way of the attack before it could connect, protecting it. Her side appeared to have sprouted a growth of ice crystals that twined their way around his keyblade, holding it in place. Lyrius tugged. The ice cracked, but refused to yield its hold.

"Check." Kastlneid's hand slapped onto his face and seized it in a death grip.

Lyrius' eyes burned, still visible through her spread fingers and she felt magic surge through the keyblade buried in her side.

The street exploded, ice erupting over and around them like an act of God before blackness tore up from the center of the maelstrom and washed it away like a mirage.

Kastleneid's word was pain for an eternal moment. It suffused her body and she could feel her damaged limbs twitching and fresh blood tricking down along with melted ice over her body. The ice anchors had cracked heavily, but had kept the force from the two attacks from hurling her away and blunting the force of hers.

She watched the blackened mist from the explosion clear away. "I...got you."

"Yes." Lyrius emerged from the mess. His shirt was gone entirely, fragments of his frozen hair falling from his as he moved. He still held his keyblade, which was still seething with more of the blackness it had just unleashed.

But a series of thin red scars, marking where her fingers had latched onto him, were bleeding down his face like little rivers that were spreading across his body. "You are smiling."

"I had a thought…" Kastleneid raised a hand to her face, physically feeling the smile that present there even as her own blood from the reopened scar on her face forced her to close her right eye. "And...it worked."

"Indeed." Lyrius smiled back, his grip tightening on his keyblade.

It didn't go unnoticed and Kastleneid felt her own smile spread even as she drew some more magic into her hands.

"What are you thinking now, Kastleneid?"

"I am thinking...I want to fight you more. I want to kill you." She flexed her hands, ice slowly forming into gauntlets once more. "And...I am thinking that you standing here before me like this...is something amazing."

SHe tore her foot free of the anchor holding it.

"I am thinking...I will be sad when I destroy it."

"The sight of you like this, covered in blood and bleeding the will to fight...is something far more beautiful than a weapon." Lyrius' smirked and raised his weapon. "I find it most appealing."

Kastleneid tore her other foot free and raised her fists. Her gauntlet forms strengthened and spikes formed on the knuckles.

Then she bolted forwards, a wordless cry escaping her mouth as she came down at Lyrius with everything she had.

TTTTTTT

"Mummy! Mister Lyrius brought home another pretty lady!" Naya's pouting voice rang through the house.

"...how is that child so loud for someone so small?"

"It is an unexplainable mystery."

"Oi! That's my daughter you're talking about!" Furious, Mora stormed down her hallway, still managing to look formidable in spite of the floral oven gloves slung over her shoulder. "And where the hell have you been? We went all over town trying to follow your little public display and the lizard would not stop fretting-"

"I wasn't fretting!" Judy materialised in the living room doorway, her gaze firmly on Lyrius even as her voice replied to her host. He did not appear damaged, in spite of the chaos that the day had thrown at them, but you could never be sure...

"Whatever." In her usual tone of dismissal, Mora's eyes flicked from Lyrius to Kastle, and then back again. "Another one? Really? I was right, you are a manslut."

"'Scuse me?" Judy demanded, wondering when her partner had acquired this moniker and why.

"Most of my companions are women." Lyrius offered by way of explanation, ushering his white-haired guest into the house and pulling the door shut behind them.

"Manslut! Manslut! Manslut!" Naya chirruped, delighted by this new word.

"Naya! Language!"

"But you said it, Mummy!"

"And your father and I have told you before - never copy my language! Now go put a penny in the swear tin, and give us some space please."

"But…" Naya glanced at Lyrius and his companion, then back to Judy and to Lyrius again and pouted, scurrying off in a huff.

Bright narrowly missed his daughter as she vanished up the stairs and poked his head around the corner. "She's dressed like him...has that same flat expression...same crazy hair. Lyrius, is that your lovechild?"

Mora shot her husband an amused grin, while Judy tried to decide whether she should rush to Lyrius's defence, or sit back and see how he responded.

Everyone in the room felt the hairs on their neck stand up briefly as Lyrius frowned darkly and some of his killing intent slipped free. Then it was gone and he was adjusting his sunglasses. "She is my ward. This is Kastleneid, the assassin Trueman attempted to kill me with this afternoon. She will be assisting us in taking down Menagerie. We will leave for America is ten hours.

The pressure that had filled the hall seemed to dissipate, though there was still a lingering tension in everyone's shoulders.

"...okay. You all have fun. I'm going to work," Bright said, casually slipping past the guests and fishing his coat out from the rack. Judy could not help but wonder if he were making a tactical retreat. Then she wondered if perhaps he was the smartest person in the room.

Mora exited with him, presumably to say goodbye, leaving the other three to stand in the hallway, looking uncomfortably at their shoes.

"Kastleneid, this is Judy, my paramour." Lyrius said without preamble. "She is someone you can trust."

He took a few steps up to Judy and waited expectantly.

"...what?" Judy said warily.

"The last time something like this happened, you threatened to slap me. I am hoping my apologies beforehand would soften the blow." Lyrius said softly. "I am sorry for not telling you about this sooner and just springing it on you. This must strain the credibility of your trust me, but I will explain if you allow me."

Judy folded her arms, and mentally steeled herself.

"Perhaps you might allow me to speak for myself if she has issue with your words." Kastleneid cut in softly, regarding Judy with expectation. "Also, 'paramour'?"

"A close lover. Not yet engaged to be married, but happening in the near future." Lyrius explained over his shoulder and returned his attention to Judy. "Kastleneid is a creation of Menagerie and knows of how she travels, her defenses and more. Whatever information she can provide us is quite useful. She is with us because she has nowhere else to go and I would not put it beyond Trueman or Menagerie attempt to return her to being a weapon. She has not had a first chance, let alone a second."

He took Judy's hand in his own. "I can speak more or will you prefer it from her mouth?"

Judy remained impassive, her eyes flicking to Kastleneid in a silent invitation.

Kastleneid remained silent as well, staring back. The room descended into awkward non-communication. Then, at last, Kastleneid started in surprise. "Oh. You indicated me? I am… sorry. I am not the best at social cues." She straightened her body up. "I am Kastleneid. I wish to fight Lyrius, and continue fighting him until his mind surrenders and his body refuses to continue. I will follow him until I understand the best way to overcome the gap in our abilities. Do you object?"

The question was, quite obviously, loaded.

Lyrius had removed himself from his position between the two and seemingly waiting patiently.

"...only if Lyrius promises not to keep important decisions from me in the future."

"You have my word, Judy. That went better than I anticipated." Lyrius said and gently ushered Kastleneid into the living room. "Sit. I will prepare a drink for you."

Kaslteneid did as asked, slowly scanning the room and apparently drinking it all in as she did so. Judy, meanwhile, marched behind Lyrius so close she could still smell the blood on him as they entered the kitchen.

Kastleneid simply sat and stared after them. And for the first time in her life, she began to experience a strange feeling of bemusement.


End file.
